an old archenemy reappears
by WyldClaw
Summary: future animeverse fic. derek is ash and misty's son but they won't let him go on his own journey. in fact they have some secrets . one night ash and storm-pikachu's mate- are taken. there's a ransom note. derek & aki- storm's pup- decide to rescue them on their own. who took them? why? will they find them? still interested? click on the story. please R&R! thanks
1. will i be a good father

Will I be a good dad by WildCroconaw

Plot: this is the the one-shot prequel to an old foe returns, when his fiancée is in the hospital one of our fave characters has worries about being a dad. Can you guess who it is? Takes place waaaay into the future . I don't own any original characters. The character of Storm, the doctor, the baby and Aki and raine belong to me-

Mia1986: AHEM!

What?

Mia1986: need I remind you who actually came up with the baby's name

Well I was gonna

Mia1986: AND the doctor's name?

Err I –

Mia1986: don't make me force you to watch [ takes a deep breath] from Justin to Kelly, bad teacher, book of eli, the Hannah Montana movie, Charlie st cloud, kazzam , Battleship AND that's my boy

[face goes pale and she shudders at the mention of those starclan awful movies]: You want me to puke and get ill? You wouldn't even dare!

Oh yes I would!

[gulps] okay. so the baby actually got his name from mia196. There. Happy? so keep your hands off or else. If you flame me or think otherwise may Tigerstar, mapleshade, and the rest of the dark forest crew scratch your eyes out ._ Italics '_are thoughts, ( ) is pokemon speech and " " are humans talking. enjoy!

Xfic starts belowX

The clock ticked loudly in the empty waiting room of the hospital but I didn't notice it as I paced up and down, my eyes constantly over to a certain door. It was early in the morning, about seven, so there was hardly any one there- maybe a few doctors coming and going. I bit my lip. The granola bar in my stomach churned my pocket buzzed as my phone vibrated. I took it out and answered it- hoping it wasn't my mom.

"hello?" I whispered. _Please let it not be mom. Please let it not be mom_

(Did she have the baby yet?) A familiar voice answered.

"Nope. Still in the waiting room" I told him. "How come you're up so early?"

(Hmm? let me think. Who woke up when her water broke? And had to shock you to get you moving?)

"Oh... yeah..."

(You nervous at all) the mouse asked

"Yeah. I don't know if I'm ready for this pal"

(You'll be fine- trust me. Want me to tell Skyler to tell Sam the frontier is closed today? )

"S-sure". Skyler was one of Pidgeot's kids. He was a pretty fast bird whereas San was one of my assistants.

(I'll tell the others too) As if sensing how I was feeling he added. (Don't worry. You'll do fine. That kid's going to have the greatest human for a dad) I blushed. (Trust me I wasn't ready to be a dad when Storm had her pups. Aki, what in the name of Zapdos are you doing)

_oh brother not again._ I thought. Aki was the runt of her litter and was always being goaded by her siblings to get into trouble . She was an odd little Pichu and even Storm had trouble with her. I swear she was a hyper eevee in a past life or something

I heard a new voice in the background and a crash (whoops)

(Aki, get down from there) Pikachu scolded her. (You know you're not allowed up there)

"what did she break?"

(just that ugly pink cup violet gave you as a housewarming cup)

"never really liked that cup anyways"

He focused his attention on his daughter (that's too high up for you)

(but poppa... 'Electra bullied me saying that I can't climb up a tall 50 foot birch tree cause I'm a runt and I wanted to prove her wrong. this way I can jump on her when she wakes up for breakfast.)

Pikachu sighed ( I'll talk to her about that later She's just trying to get you in trouble)

Mentally I added _and then it would be doubled. Gah! Arceus knows how many years have passed and I still have that stupid motto stuck in my head._

He continued (you can climb the swing set outside)

(But it's not high enough)

(Aki sparka thorina 'Chu you get you little tail down from there right now.) I could just picture her flinching on the shelf. When her dad said her full name she knew she was busted.

(I'll talk to her) a soft voice said.

A few minutes later I heard Pikachu's voice again. (Well, color my fur purple; Raine got her down from that shelf. Don't you worry, pika-pi, you'll be fine. Let us know what happens)

"Will do. Thanks pal" there was silence. I turned my phone off and put it back in my pocket.

An hour went by, still no word. Then an hour and a half. I tried to calm myself down by thinking about the frontier and reading the magazines but that didn't work. I resumed my pacing. _Why hasn't the doctor called me in yet? Maybe something went wrong? They would tell me if something went wrong, right?_

The receptionist at the desk looked over at me. "First time father huh?"

I stopped in my tracks and looked over at her. She was maybe around forty-five years old and wore glasses over her hazel eyes. Her tan hair reached to her shoulders. "Uh, yeah" I admitted, "how'd you know?"

She smiled. "I've been in this job for a while. I can tell who the first time parents are. They have that look about them. Everything's going to be fine Have a seat-" She gestured to a nearby chair and I sat down.

"Trying telling that to my nerves" I said to myself. My poor nerves were a total wreck-_I'd never felt this nervous in my life- not in the conferences, gym battles, or anything._

She took a sip from a mug next to her and then remarked, "You look young to be a father"

I chuckled nervously as I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm only twenty- six and my fiancée "the word still felt odd on my tongue even after months of asking her the question," is just a little older". I chuckled. "We traveled together for a long time when we were teens. And even though we spent a while away from each other we realized that we really, really loved each other"

"Love at first sight huh?"

"Uhh, something like that" I replied. Not really I thought _we both hated each other at first._

"That's nice to hear that still exists" She took another long drink and filled out some papers. I looked down at the engagement ring on my right hand- the exact same as Misty's. It was a small ring with pieces of a Water Stone Thunder Stone cut into two intertwining hearts. On the ring's silver band it had the words 'Together forever through thick and thin I will always love you'.

The receptionist looked at me closely, eying my pokeballs. "You're a trainer?" she asked breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Y-yeah" I nodded, wishing Pikachu was here to calm my nerves. -. But the hospital didn't allow pokemon in the delivery room. -_. He was probably as nervous as I am when Storm had her kids. He hid it very well lots better than I am now_. _Still, this is pretty nerve wracking- what if I'm not cut out to be a good dad? What if I'm-_

She interrupted my thoughts. " You look familiar. Have you ever been on TV? I know I've seen your face some where"

I felt my face burn with embarrassment, as I looked up-. "Uh, well. I've been in lots of tournaments. I beat the orange crew twice. A couple of months ago I re-entered the Indigo Conference and got really far. No one really expected me to get as far as I did this time..." I trailed off, remembering the roar of the crowd as they shouted my name. "Then recently Lance called and offered me to be the head of a Battle frontier in pallet. It's going to be up pretty shortly."

I regretted saying those words. She got all excited. "Oh! I remember my nephew saying something about that. Now I know who you are. You're-" At that moment the phone rang and she answered it in a business like tone. "Hello Viridian City Medical center, front desk. How may I help you"?

I sighed. _Saved by the phone._ At the same moment a doctor came out of the door I was looking at. He was about fifty years old with blonde hair. His green eyes sparkled when he saw me and motioned with his hand for me to come over. I recognized him right away and jumped out of the chair like someone who sat on a Sandslash. I walked over to him. "Doctor Hawthyrne how is she? Did she have the baby? She told me she wanted me there." I bit my lip again.

He laughed. " And you think that she would change her mind? She's just about ready"

We walked to the delivery room. "You came at just the right time. "

I scratched my head in embarrassment. "Well, it was my pikachu who told me her water broke. "

The doctor laughed. " Really? "

"Yup."

We reached the door and he handed me a hospital scrub. I put on the scrub opened the door and walked into the delivery room and saw my fiancée on an elevated hospital bed. She had an IV in her left arm and was wearing a hospital gown. Her breathing was labored and her long wavy s hair was all over the place. She smiled at me. Her right hand lay limp on the side. I went over to her and kissed her. "Hey. You a bit nervous?"

I nervously chuckled. "Who me? ...Yeah"

She winced. "Its nothing." she saw my concerned face.

"I talked to pikachu. He's holding down fort . Electra bullied her the 's trying to climb the top shelf... again. Raine managed to get her down. It's funny how she won't listen to her parents but a few words from her and she'll do whatever she wants"

"That vaporeon's got the magic paw. She can be stern when she wants to be- Violet found her abandoned remember?" she winced again and I bit my lip. "The baby is just moving around a lot-YEEOOW!"

She started screaming in pain as the kicks got more and more frequent. She was panting in between words and groans of pain. "If.. theses... are ... twins I'm Going to kill you for ...putting me. Through... This ...pain..." she glared at me as the doctors scurried about the room.

One of the doctors looked at me and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, son, it's just the drugs and the pain. Once the baby's out of her she'll be back to normal"

_I hope you're right_. _I've been on the receiving end of her fists & mallet way too many times in the past_. I extended my hand to her to squeeze and she began squeezing hard.

Every time misty had a contraction she squeezed my hand a bit. This went on for a while. Every time I thought it was the baby coming out._Was I even ready to be a dad? I didn't really have a father figure growing up. I mean dad abandoned mom and I. But-_

Doctor Hawthyrne looked at the machine next to the bed from his position at the end of the bed and then at us, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Okay, misty. I think the baby is ready to come out. When I say push, push with all your might"

"O-okay." She squeezed my hand so hard I thought it would break. _This is it!_

"Okay... PUSH!" as she did, she let out a scream so loud it seemed to put a Hyper Voice to shame. I heard doctor Hawthyrne cry out " I see a head!" and then a baby's scream

_I don't know if I'm ready for this _–I thought as I blacked out.

The next thing I felt was a pair of hands helping me up from the ground. "Up you go sonny" the owner of the hands told me as I stood up. I heard Misty panting as if she had just run a long race. Then next thing I felt was her fist making contact with my head.

"Owww!" my head ached from the pain. "what ?"

she glared at me "you total idiot Ash! The birth of your first kid and you black out!" I cringed at her words. She gave me a look then kissed me. "You're lucky you're so handsome and that I love you so much. You missed the baby coming out"

"Wha-" I began but then I heard a different sound- the sound of a baby crying. Dr. Hawthyrne had something red squirming in his arms. _Was that..._

He looked at us. "It's a beautiful boy. I just need to clean him up and do some tests to make sure he's healthy"

We nodded and he went out of sight. "Well there goes my idea of naming our kid after my mom"

She kissed me. "What about some of the other names we thought of. How about Ashton Junior, after you?"

I shuddered. "nah. I wouldn't wish my full name on anyone. Plus can you imagine the trouble he'd have trying to break free of my shadow if they take the battle frontier challenge?"

"True. What about ... Derek Erickson"

_Hmm, Derek Erickson Ketchem. It has a nice ring to it, _I thought. "Sure."

The doctor handed Misty our baby in a blue blanket. She unclenched my hand. "Congratulations. What's his name?"

She told him. We both looked down at him. A few wisps of black hair covered his face. He looked like a strong little guy _He looks just like me_.

"hey there little guy. I'm your daddy and this is your mommy" I told him.

He looked up at me. at that moment my heart used melted.

Misty yawned. "He's got beautiful green eyes" she said

I kissed her again. "get some sleep. I'll be back later. I'm going to do something very dangerous"

"What? Face down a pack of charging Rhyperiors?"

I got up. "no, worse. Tell mom her grandson is here "

She smiled. "it's a good thing you've faced much worse" she closed her eyes and in a minute she was fast asleep

It took all my willpower to take off my scrub, go out of the room and leave the hospital. I couldn't help skipping out the door- I was a father! As I pictured Derek's little face something big slapped me on the back

(Congratulations) I recognized the speaker at once and turned around. Pidgeot was standing there, a satisfied look in her eyes.

I blushed. "you saw the labor"

(no I was flying around Joho ) She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked me with her wing (of course I saw it. if I flew you two here how else do you think you're going to get back? You didn't take your car) she ducked down as I climbed on her back. ( you know how many pidgeys and pidgeottos I've seen with that moony eyed look after their first clutch of eggs hatch?)

"I'm not looking that moony-eyed"

( be glad the paparazzi isn't here yet or they'd get a lovely picture of you looking all dreamy. What's his name?)

"Derek"

(good name. lemme guess, your mom doesn't know yet)

I shook my head. "not just yet"

(oh boy. That's going to go well). she imitated my mom's voice (why didn't you tell me my grandson was born? )

I went red. She smirked. (Next stop: Pallet!)

We took to the skies..

Xend of ficX

.

Author's notes: well, how did you like it? did you like how I made Storm OC from' stay or go' ] come back and be Pikachu's mate? it took me a while-

Mia1986: AHEM! did you forget who helped out?

Well, I was getting to that

mia1986: uh -huh and tigerstar and scourge were good guys when they were alive-

I WAS! don't get your knickers in a twist

Mia1986: then tell the readers who helped you again before i pound you with my hardcover twilight books

can't it be a paperback {Mia186 glares at her } uh i mean is there a third option?

Mia1986: **NO!**

heh. okay fine, Mia1986 helped me out a bit with this fic.


	2. beggining of derek's adventure

Chapter 1: The attack and aftermath by WildCroconaw

Plot: If you think I own pokemon you must have been hit with a giga impact attack cause I don't! It takes place about 12-12 ½ years after the one shot 'will I be a good dad " prequel. Just to let you know I'll mainly be using pokemon from kanto-Sinnoh in this fic. There might be be a few Isshu ones/ attacks thrown in their but not many [ I'm an old school type girl]. Author's notes: " "is humans talking, italics are thoughts. * indicates untranslated serpent tongue , while the translation is next to it in ( ) . yes i based serpent-tongue of parseltongue from Harry potter. () is translated pokemon speech. Author's notes, AN, are in brackets {}. Character guide is below. Ready? Here we go

XxX

Narrator: it's been over 12 years since Ash and Misty first had Derek. Since then the world has changed a lot in that time. Things have changed two pairs of former foes are now on fairly good terms; Professor oak has retired leaving the lab in the hands of Gary and his wife Dora. New gyms and pokemon have popped up. In fact a trainer's school now exists in Pallet City, formerly known as Pallet town. However, there is a secret that's preventing Derek's parents from letting him go. Let's peek inside a certain house on Doduo drive shall we?

Xfic starts belowX

Mom, Dad and I were cleaning up after dinner one night after Mom put my siblings to bed when I thought I'd let my dad know something. "Jaden's talked to his parents about being a trainer" I said casually. The subject of my best friend, well at least his parents, was a sensitive one around mom and dad.

Dad stopped washing the dish in his hand, put it down on the counter and looked at me. "That's surprising they would let him."

Mom gave him a look. "What do mean by that, Ash? He's a normal boy. Never mind what his parents did. I think it's good that he wants to go explore the world. What did they say?"

"Uhh" I looked at my shoes. "He hasn't said yet"

We finished the dishes in silence. they went into the living room to talk quietly. I stared out the window at the setting sun. The light flowed over part of our back yard. I saw a few of dad's charizards fly into the sky for a sunset flight. I wished I could fly like them- I'd actually be able to see the world then.

I turned away from the window and walked over to the mirror. My reflection stared back at me. My unruly black hair flopped all over the place and my bangs fell cross my face- I pushed them out of my face behind my ear. I wore my favorite tee shirt-a grey one that had a picture of a Ponyta racing across it and a pair of patched shorts. two green eyes winked at me. I grimaced as I took in the thin scars on my cheek. My friend Sami Oak needed my help a few days ago getting a not so friendly Purugly out of a tree. Unfortunately it chose to use us as a scratching post {AN: Puruglies can get pretty nasty }. She and I were able to get the Sinnoh native out after a while. I sighed. _I so hate puruglies_._ that thing was worse than Meowth when we have to give him a bath._

I heard something move behind me. (Banzai!) A voice behind me cried. I turned around and looked as Aki, one of Pikachu and Storm's daughters, jumped at me from the kitchen counter. I caught her in my arms in mid-air.

"Hey, you little furball. " I said as she nuzzled my check. "You didn't scare me".

( tarous poo. you looked distracted so i thought i'd scare you )

" silly mouse, tricks for kids" I tickled her ear as she sighed in content. " where's taran?"

Her ears drooped ( he was with the jolteons earlier but dad said he was wiped out so he crashed in the barn with sunset) she looked out the window. I looked over at the one distinguishing feature she had - unlike her kin she only had half her zigzag lightning bolt tail . When she was little there was some kind of incident where it was bitten off.

She saw Sam, one of dad's staff members lead the small jolteon herd back to 'the barn' -an enormous warm attack-proof shelter for the pokemon- with a gaze of longing. (I wish I could be like them. I'd give the rest of my tail to be able to use electricity, even know volt tackle)

despite barely being able to handle electricity Aki was determined to learn her species' special move, which not only took a ton of concentration but loads of practice. dad even told me how long it took for pikachu to learn it. _she sure has a lot of guts. _ She took her gaze away from then and focused up at me. (Pappa won't let me learn it) she sighed. (Say's it's too hazardous for me.) I felt bad for her-due to her accident she couldn't really use electricity [AN: Pikachus and Raichus gather and conduct electricity through their tails} so she beat herself up a lot. She was also really fidgety. (He let Taran, thora; Electra and Zapps know it but not me)

I could relate to that- being forbidden to do something you really want to do. 'Yeah, dad won't let me go on my own journey"

(Have you tried asking him?)

'plenty of times . And he still says it's dangerous, I guess we're in the same boat Aki" I sighed. You wouldn't think it would be hard for my parents to let me go on my own pokemon journey –for Mew's sake I'm the kid of misty and ash ketchum! they should be encouraging me to leave but they keep refusing. . There's something they're keeping from me and I'm curious as to what. The saying goes: curiosity killed the cat and I was born under the sign of the lion. _why wont they let me go_

as if reading my thoughts a soft voice answered (they have their reasons ). i turned around and saw Aki's mother, Storm, pad into the room . I looked down at her. (And Aki, sweet heart it's because you're too impatient)

Aki jumped down from my arms and rubbed her fur against her mother's. I knelt down and gave her ears a scratch. asides from her small stature Storm looked like any other female of her species Asides with one other snag: she couldn't really use electricity much. Over the years dad developed attacks for her to use and she was able to use the element a bit. she had a skill that made up for the lack of electricity: She had this ability to read emotions and sometimes even minds. "You know I hate it when you do that mind reading thing".

She licked my cheek. (Your frustration's pretty obvious) she turned to her daughter (Julie wants to help you practice your Mega Kick. She's underneath the Blue Apricorn tree waiting for you)

(Yahoo!) With that Aki bounded off. She got along great with Julie, a timid female Nidoran that one of dad's assistants found abandoned on the street. Thanks to Aki, Julie was starting to open up a bit more.

My Pokegear around my arm went off with a chirp-a text message. I pressed a button on the side to see the message. It was from Jaden: **said they'd 'talk it ovr'. doubt it will happen pal. Keep fingers crossed. –Jade**

Storm looked at the text. (You think they'll let him go this time)

"I don't know. " I had a funny feeling I knew what they were going to say.

(That reminds me, your parents want to talk to you).

I groaned. "Lovely. Wish me luck"

(Just don't get on their bad side) storm said.

"ha." i stood up. "you think i want to?"

I went into the living room. Mom and dad were sitting on the couch looking at something- as i got closer i saw it was one of their wedding photos. they looked up when they saw me . I decided to lie a bit. "Umm. I got a text from Jaden saying that his parents said he needs a partner for his journey."

Mom looked at me not believing me at all . " Really?"

"Uh... not really " I mumbled under my breath. " but if they did say so then would you let-"

Dad stood up. "Absolutely not"

"If Jaden goes on a journey can-"

"No".

"But dad-"I began.

"For the hundredth time the answer is no"

"I've beaten every one at the Trainer's School at least twice. You were there when Principle Maplestone made that speech about me during graduation"

"As much as I was impressed you're not going"

"Why are you against me going on my own journey, dad? You know my friends all get to go-"

"You don't know what it's like out there."

"I've been to Cherrygrove City on field trips. For Mew's sake I'm 12 and a half! Grams said that when you were my age you had already competed in two different leagues"

"Two and a half actually" he muttered under his breath half proudly half embarrassed . "but times were different then" He gave me a cold look with his black eyes but I didn't flinch. He sighed and turned to mom. I knew there was something they weren't telling me. "Mom, please..."

Mom looked from dad to me. She still looked pretty for thirty-eight years old- her red orange hair flowing past her shoulders; her light blue shirt had baby food from my little brother Aiden on it. "Sweetheart, it's not that we don't want you to go"

"Then what is it?"

"You're too young to know" dad mumbled

" That's not it is it? It's because you don't think I'm good enough. Sami's dad's the professor of kanto and he's letting her go on journey" another lie-Professer gary hadn't said anything about it to her.

"It's not that" mom began

"Then what is it?" I raised my voice.

"Derek, Aiden and DJ sleeping. "Mom reminded me.

"It's ...complicated" dad said but I ran upstairs into my room and slammed the door- hard.

I looked around my room. Pictures and photographs littered the wall. I went up to my favorite drawing- one my cousin Rosie did during a visit when I was seven. It was one with some of dad's pokemon looking at me doing a victory pose with one hand and holding up a big trophy with the other. A speech bubble above my head read "future kanto champ'. She had my uncle's drawing ability {AN: mom is Daisy and dad is Tracey} so it was incredibly lifelife_. I wish._

"Like that will ever happen except in my dreams" I sighed and flopped down on my bed.

I heard dad's voice from the other side of the door. "Derek? Can I come in?"

"Leave me alone!"

"Look son, you don't understand-"

"That I'm your son and you want to keep me stuck here forever? Why can't you just let me go off?" I yelled. "I'm perfectly capable of handling myself so why can't I go?"

"I...can't " his voice was low.

"What? You scared that I'll be stuck in your shadow for the rest of my life if I go? I hate you! I wish you'd disasapear "

There was silence and I heard him mutter something under his breath before heading downstairs. _Serves him right_ I thought. _Just cause he's my dad doesn't mean he can't keep me here forever. I mean, yeah I've been to the battle frontier conference before- I know that there are tough foes out there. I've made my own mark for myself at school but Nooooo! he doesn't think that's good enough t_

A few minutes later there was another knock on the door and I heard my sister's voice. "Der? Can I come in?" I got up and opened the door. In came my sister, my baby brother and dad's Pikachu. I half-closed the door behind them. At five years old, she looked just like a mini version of my grandma, whom she was named after. She had short light brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a blue tee shirt and pokeball print PJs pants, in her left hand she carried a stuffed My Little Ponyta doll while the other one held Aiden's hand. " I was sleeping and I heard- heard yelling" She yawned.

"I Scareded too" Aiden said as he toddled over to me. He was two and a half and had reddish brown hair, his hazel eyes looked up at me. He wore his onesie with Bulbasaurs on it.

I knelt down to face them and ruffled his hair as he sucked his thumb "hey, don't worry squirt. I'm Still in one piece"

DJ ran over to me and hugged me. "Dad and I were at it... yet again"

Pikachu sighed (you are so your father's son)

"Is that a good thing?" DJ asked him.

(Ummm kind of. It means they're both stubborn and hardheaded)

"Am not" I muttered under my breath.

(Oh yes you are)

"How's that bad-" DJ began. Suddenly the door slammed shut and I heard the lock click shut. at the sound of it shutting we jumped . "Wh-what was that?"

(I don't know) Pikachu looked around, sniffing the air as if trying to figure out what or who locked the door.

"Look!" Aiden pointed at the window. Somehow next to a large spray bottle materialized. "What's happening" his eyes went wide as we watched it spray out a thick cloud of this blue powder around the room.

As the powder hit me I immediately felt sleepy and saw that my siblings were fast asleep on my floor. Pikachu scratched at the door (help! Get...) his voice slurred as the powder took effect and he fell sleep.

As I gave into the powder I heard the voice of Sibyl, one of dad's assistants in my head, "forgive me for this. You will understand why soon enough".

XTime shift x Time shift X time shift X time shift X time shift X time shift X time shift X

"...Don't wanna go to school"

(He'ssss not waking up)

'Five more minutes mom" I muttered sleepily.

"Dude, wake up"

"It's the winter- I don't have to go to school"

"Okay you asked for it" there was a slight chuckle. I heard a human hiss in serpent-tongue in my ear. "*Hassa myess sieyah arokasss derekiahs. Hassa myess sieya! Katapiya'ah wa'auras gea-ahsaaa w'lyenass Ceaiyah! *" {Come and arise up young derek- san. Come and rise up! Caterpies aplenty wait for us under the earth. Trouble afoot!}

" Son of an arcanine !" I jumped up into the air- my heart pounding fast I opened my eyes, looked around and then saw the culprit- a blurry figure standing in my room. "Mew's tail I hate serpent-tongue. "

I rubbed my eyes to wake up and the figure came into view. When I saw whom it was my heartbeat went back to normal "Even thought of using the alarm clock? I grumbled at my best friend Jaden.

" I had to wake up somehow. I swear you sleep like a Snorlax" His hazel eyes looked at me as he brushed a strand of his shaggy maroon hair out of his face. He wore a white tee shirt with the emblem of his parents' shop- a pair of forks behind a red rose. His Seviper, Severus was at his side. But there was something wrong- I noticed there was a serious and worried look in his eyes, which was strange.

"Jade, what's wrong "

"Derek, something happened here last night" his tone was serious. "I -I saw the police cars on my way here and there was a smashed window... "

I looked around the room in a panic and remembered the door slamming , et the spray bottle. I noticed the door was off it's hinges and there were scratch marks on the door. _Oh no! Mom and dad are going to kill me! _"DJ and Pikachu and Aiden...they were here last night and-"

Severus waved his tail (Your ssssiblings and pikachu are ssssafe with your grandma) Severus told me. (you were the only one who wassssss ssssstill asleeep)

I stopped for a second. If nothing happened to my sibling or pikachu and they were at my grandma's house then. I felt like a blastoise sent a huge ice beam into the pit of my stomach. the looks on serverus and jaden's face confirmed it. " oh No. "

I hurried and put on my shoes – I fell asleep in my clothes the night before- and raced down the stairs. "Mom! dad!" I stopped at the entrance to the den.

As I stepped into the living room my stomach turned. _What in the name of the legendaries happened? _I looked around and saw red stains that looked like blood on the wall along with claw marks. Some of the photographs from the mantle and wall were scattered about and stuffing ripped out of the pillows. The walls and furniture had ice on them. One of the windows was smashed. The living room looked like a battle had taken place. I looked down at my feet and saw shards of broken glass so I sidestepped around them. There was a bustle of activity in the center of the room.

A picture on the ground caught my eye so I carefully picked it up. As I looked at it a tear fell down my face. It was a picture of mom, dad and I at their wedding- laughing at some thing- we all had cake on our faces. I was really young at the time so I didn't remember it but I heard them talk about it so much it felt like I did.

"Excuse me Derek, can I talk to you? " I looked up from the picture and saw a police officer with tan hair and bue eyes address me- a growlithe at his side. I looked up and recognized Mr. Smithson, one of my classmate's dads. He was a nice guy- blind in one eye so his K-9 growlithe partner, Sasha, was his Seeing Eye dog.

I nodded as I carefully put the photo in my pocket. "Y-yes?"

"As you may have noticed something happened here last night" his eyes swept the mess that was the living room "we don't know what happened but we do know one thing" my stomach tightened. " Your dad is gone"

_Dad's gone?_ My jaw dropped. "Wh-what? Gone?"

Sasha looked at me sadly (just that. I can't find his scent anywhere. Not only that, his pikachu's mate isn't anywhere to be found. All I found were pawprints and blood) her gaze followed to some pawprints on the ground.

_Storm's gone too?_ I felt like I had been hit with Stun Spore-I couldn't think or move. Behind me I heard Jaden mutter two four letter curse words under his breath in serpent-tongue. "*Sssy'ak! Sz'yet*" .Sev hissed the translation which I couldn't agree more with.

. I kept on going back to the yelling match I had with dad the night before. _It's my fault. I told dad that I hated him and to leave me alone. It's my fault. It's my fault. i told him to disapear_

I must have blanked out for a few minutes since because Mr. Smithson said "derek? Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "Y-y-yeah. Sorry. Just worried"

Sasha licked my hand. (It must be hard for you and your siblings. But we'll find him. )

Her owner looked at me. "Do you know if your dad had any enemies?"

"Not that I know of. He's a pretty likable-".

I saw something that made me lose all concentration. The group at the other end of the room got up and I saw Sybil. Her sandy curly hair gave her away. ". Careful with that arm " she was saying to the paramedics. " is the ambulance waiting outside? Easy does it Misty"

"I tried to prevent it. They're gone" I heard mom's voice. As the group went past I felt rooted to the spot. Mom was in the middle of the circle of paramedics but she didn't look like herself. There was a red line under her chin. Her skin was blue, as if she been in a snowstorm and had bloody scratch marks on it. Her right arm was in a makeshift sling.

I saw red lines on the sling. She was shivering and muttering something like 'I should've stopped her. "

_Who is she talking about?_

To be continued...

Xchapter endsX

Author's notes: hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought of it in a review. Any one has any suggestions for what Jessie and James' surname should be let me know. Thanks

Character guide

**Ash Ketchem**

Age: 37-38

Title(s): frontier brain of the Pallet Battle Park, teacher, father

Personality: still the caring trainer we all know – just grown up. He is responsible for making the Trainer's school idea happen. Has been happily married to misty for over ten years and has three kids- Derek, Delia Jane ("DJ) and Aiden. Due to a failed murder attempt when Derek was little, which he has kept secret, he refuses to let him go. He doesn't really like the subject of Jaden's parents even though they have renounced their old ways.

Kids: Derek, DJ and Aiden

Pokémon: way too many to count.

**Misty Ketchum**

Age: 38

Titles: wife, teacher (part time),

Personality: our fave female traveling companion is now a devoted mother and wife. Loves her children but like her husband has kept a secret from her oldest son. Unlike Ash, she sees no reason to hold grudges against Jessie, Meowth and James for their past. She is the peacemaker of the Ketchum family and tries her best to keep Derek and Ash from butting heads. She is pretty able to keep her temper under control.

Kids: Derek, DJ and Aiden

Pokemon: way too many

**Derek Erickson Ketchum**

Age: 12 1/2

Description: like his dad he has black hair. Four feet tall with green eyes. Love wearing his patched jeans and tee shirts. Has a few slash marks on his cheek where a Purugly slashed him.

Personality: Derek has bits of his parents' personalities - he can be stubborn and is known to get a big head. Has a hard time controlling his temper at times but also cares a lot for his siblings and his friends. He doesn't know why his parents won't let him go on his own journey. Having being around Pokémon all his life he is pretty knowledgeable about them. Butts heads with his dad a lot! His best friends are Jaden and Sami oak.

Siblings: DJ and Aiden

Pokémon (of his own): SPOILER: Flamie- a female growlithe that he nursed back to health after saving her from a Spearow pack attack from her abusive ex-trainer. His parents don't know about her as Derek keeps her hidden at Sami's parents' lab.

**Jameson "Jaden"**

Age: 12

Family: Jessie and James- parents, Jordan-older sister

Description: shaggy short maroon hair. Hazel eyes. About five feet tall. Loves his bomber jacket. Wears a white tee shirt that advertises his parents costume shop/ resturant, Roquet ramen,

Personality: not at all what one would expect of Jessie and James' son. Jaden inherited his mother's hair as well as her love for snake pokemon. From his dad he got his cool attitude. His older Jordan constantly irritates him. He can put up his own in a pokemon battle but lacks confidence. Loner. He is fluent in serpent-tongue (the language of snake pokemon).

Pokemon: Severus - a male arbok that is the offspring of venom (a female ekans Jessie found) and her Seviper. Friendly and calm...but in battle watch out. He is as loyal as a growlithe when it comes to protecting 'young master and friends'

**Samantha "Sami" kyralie Oak**

Family: Dora (the head of the lab in 'putting the air back in Aerodactyl') and Gary oak-parents, ryan-twin brother

Age: 12

Description: fairly tall 12 year old girl. Has indigo blue hair like her mom that spikes in the back. Amber eyes. Wears a white shirt under a blue sweater and jeans. has her dad's old ying-yang pendent

Personality: book smart-carries around a notepad at all times. . Her brother Ryan, who is a big flirt, annoys her. Tries to remain optimistic. Knows a lot about pokemon due to helping out her parents. She loves her mom's Aerodactyl, terra. Spoiler: she has a crush on Derek

Pokemon: Remy - gray-blue Ratatta. He has a very high sense of smell

Sora- female pidgeotto- she wears an orange bandana around her neck and is very fast for her species. Friendly rival with Talon, a Swellow

**Aki**

Species: pikachu

Family: Pikachu and Storm- parents, Taran, thora, Electra and Zapps- siblings,

Description: smaller than a regular pikachu. Half her tail was crushed and bitten off when she was little.

Personality: Fidgety- won't really stay still. She was the smallest of her litter. Due to that incident she isn't that good with electrical attacks and beats herself up about it. Her parents are cautious about letting her out into the real world. She can't use Volt Tackle... not yet

XxX end of guide XxX

Author's notes: don't worry; this list will be updated as new characters enter the story. Please read and review. Thanks


	3. a sticky situtation

Nodus by WildCroconaw

Plot: according to word-a-day, nodus refers to "A complicated situation or problem" which is fitting for this chapter . If you think I own any aspect of Pokemon asides from my OCS or use them without permission then prepare to face a very angry WC-trust me you DON'T want that. Understand? Good. Notes :Italics are thoughts. () Is translated Pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. one of misty's Pokemon from the show makes an appearance- read on to find out which one! Enjoy!

Recap: Mom was in the middle of the circle of paramedics but she didn't look like herself. There was a red line under her chin. Her skin was blue, like she was in a snowstorm and had bloody scratch marks on it. Her right arm was in a makeshift sling. She was shivering and muttering something like 'I should've stopped her.

_who was that?_

Xchapter begins belowX

The rest of the day and the next blurred together. I couldn't remember whom I talked to or even what I said. I kept on thinking_ it's my fault dad's gone. It's my fault he's gone and mom's injured. I should have never yelled at him. why did I let my temper get the better of me?_

"There you go" Grams draped a shawl over my shoulders, breaking me out of my inner guilt train trip. I was sitting on the couch in the living room. Until the police located dad she was staying with us and would help sybil out. The living room had been put back together-for the most part. There was a big board over the smashed window and there where a few faint red stains on the wall. No matter how much it had been restored i still could see the way it was before in my mind.

DJ was brushing Sunnie, her flareon, on the floor while Aiden was playing with his trucks though half heartedly. It was like the dread of what happened was looming over us, threatening to crush us. I knew sunnie must have sensed what we were feeling cause he whimpered as he licked DJ's face. I was glad that mom was resting in the guest room or she would be feeling the same. _'Probably even worse since she saw whatever happened'_ I thought with a shudder.

She had been rushed stat to the Pallet City Hospital the previous morning. The doctors were able to fix her arm but no matter how many times the police asked her, she couldn't recall what happened. After a while She was discharged and at the moment taking a kip in our guest room. She was in no mood to battle or any thing so Sybil was taking care of the battle park.

"Thanks" I mumbled.

My grandma knew what I was thinking and patted my shoulder "he'll be fine, Derek. Your dad's been in tougher spots." She reassured me, but I think she was trying to reassure herself more than me. "He's battled the Unown, saved mewtwo a bunch..." her voice trailed off.

" He got to meet mewtwo? But that's only a myth" DJ looked up.

"What's a moo-two?" Aiden piped.

I explained as best I could. "He's called mewtwo. he's a powerful psychic Pokemon that looks a giant humanoid cat with a long tail-"

Aiden pointed to Sunnie's fluffy tail. "Like Sunnie's?"

(Nah,) the flareon went over and flicked his tail in Aiden's face playfully. (This thing's like a Psyduck's tail compared to that one)

Aiden giggled as the fire type tickled him with his tail. I continued. "He was crested by an evil human to be the world's most powerful Pokemon ."

"Why would they do that?" Aiden asked.

I shrugged my shoulders . "Arceus knows why."

Grams took over for me. "And your father saved its life many times. The first time was in Johto. Your parents and godfather were traveling to Grandpa Canyon. It was a rainy day..." Aiden and DJ's eyes went wide as grams began the story. I tuned her out-I heard the tale many times. I had even met him once or twice. sure he had a rough past but he had atoned for his crimes.

The mention of my parents reminded me of what I heard that night in my head "forgive me for this. You will understand why soon enough". I knew sybil was a bit psychic. she had a gengar. _Was it because she saw what happened? Was it gengar who closed the door? What did mom mean when she said 'I should have stopped her'? Who in the name of ho-oh's tail feathers did she mean by -_

A light tap jolted me out of my thoughts. I turned around and saw one of mom's azumarrils- Tidal. I knew it was him since he was a bit smaller than an average species. (Your mom was mumbling your name he whispered.

I looked over at my siblings- they were too engrossed in the story to notice. I got up and left the room. "How is she Tide?" I asked.

He sighed. (A bit better. I wish Pikachu would improve. He hasn't really been himself. He's been beating himself while beating the training dummies and looking around for them. )

_he shouldn't be the _ _one doing that tidal. it's my fault. _

"Poor guy. I feel bad for him-dad and Storm both gone. He must feel like there's a huge lacuna in his heart. Did he try mentally calling them?" After saving them again mewtwo had 'bonded' dad, mom and pikachu so that they could contact one another by thoughts if they were seperated. But it had its limits.

(He tried but there was nothing) the Azumarill shook his head. (It's like he's blocked off or something. he's pretty upset . I remember when I was an Azurill. your mother, him and I got separated from your dad. I never saw such a determined pokemon want to find his trainer) we reached the door. (I used Refresh on your mom's wounds . I'll leave you alone while I get a cool compress for her)

"Thanks Tide. You're the best. I don't think sybil or grams would have made it through these past few days with out your help. I swear you've got the heart of a Luxray or even an entei "

His cheeks went tamato-berry red at the compliment. (I'm no legendary- I can't preform miracles or raise volcanoes or anything like that, I'm just your everyday Azumarill. I do my hardest to help misty , that's all )

His statement cheered me up a bit. " she couldn't have asked for a better pokemon. You've really kept us together during this time."

(thanks, derek. ) his eyes went a bit watery (I just hope that she gets better and that the police can find your dad. . Be back in a few minutes) he said as he walked off. I felt bad for him too.

I went into the guest room and quietly closed the door halfway . the room was bright and cheery with puffy white clouds painted on a blue wall, the windows were open a crack and I could hear the tweeting and chirping of pidgeys and other bird pokemon. But this was doing nothing for mom. she was sleeping in the bed, mumbling something.. She muttered something like "leave them alone... Don't hurt him..."

I touched her hand- it was warm and sweaty. She jumped right up in the bed, her eyes wide, shouted dad's name and looked around nervously- her face white as a dewgong. "Mom don't worry - it's just me"

She calmed down when she saw me. "I thought- I thought you were-"

"Dad" I finished.

She nodded . "How's the search going?" she asked casually. I could tell she was worried.

"Not good. They can't track them down because there was no evidence left aside from blood. " I shuddered.

"I know he's not dead, Derek. I just know it. I'd know if- if he was-" I saw tears form in her eyes- unable to form the last word. . "He's out there somewhere, alive."

"is that cause of the bond mewtwo made?" I asked. She nodded, fighting back tears. "anything?"

she shifted her gaze from me to the bedside table where her wedding ring lay then back to me. "no. if I could –" she looked at her injured arm and sighed -"I'd go out on Aurora and search all over kanto, Johto. Hoenn even, if it meant finding him. If the battle frontier festival weren't coming up next week-"

An idea sprouted in my head. It was a crazy idea but an idea nonetheless. "Do you remember what happened that night?"

She shook her head. "Not much. We heard a disturbance and heard storm yell. We went to check it out. there was this kadabra and this tall woman that I didn't recognize. Ash had this look in his eyes as if-as if the woman was back from the dead. " She paused as if trying to remember, "I tried to stop her but her kadabra overpowered me. all I remember is him screaming my name and it being very could . then i woke up in the living room ."

_So dad recognized the unknown kidnapped but mom didn't. interesting _ I thought. "I don't k-know where that woman took him. I don't know wh-why either. Baby- what if she comes back-"

"I'll fight her off mom."

she gave a weak smile " thanks sweetie. I wish I knew who she was. " she yawned. "I keep on having these dreams of her hurting you and your siblings and..."

"Why don't you go back to sleep? I know you think you'll dream of her but" I thought hard. "Just think of some happier times instead like um your wedding or something like that" her face brightened up. " Tomorrow Jaden and I will go out with Sunset and aurora to look. I'll find that woman and show her why I was one of the top trainers in the school. No body messes with my family"

"You are so your father" She nodded, closed her eyes, and before her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep. A smile was on her face.

I felt her forehead- she was really sweating. I slumped into the chair next to the bed. "Poor mom. She really misses dad. I wish there was some way for me to help out but what can I do? I'm just a teen"

No sooner had I said this Tidal came into the room, a cool compress in one paw and a folded up piece of paper in the other. (How is she?)

I took the compress from him and put it over mom's hot forehead which helped to cool it down. "she's back asleep. She- she misses dad"

(I can only imagine how much it hurts. I f-found this by the door. I thought I heard something but it was nothing but then I saw this) the Azumarill handed me the folded up piece of paper. Even folded up I got a bad vibe from it. I unfolded it.

At first I couldn't make out what it said because there were all theses red smears across the paper. The words were cut out of newspaper articles. As I started reading it my hand shook. A gasp came from my throat . I pointed at the note, which read: **I've taken something of yours you hold dear. To get him back you must enter a place you entered with him many year. Come to the darkest part of it in one night's time alone. No police or tricks or else. His life and the rodent's are in the balance. If you don' t come I will hunt you down after I get rid of the worthless rat .**

I tried to steady my hand but no such luck. I couldn't speak for a few minutes. It didn't take me long to release I had a ransom note in my hand. By the sound of it, it was written by the same person who took dad and storm and wiped mom's memory clean. It was also a threat: come alone or be hunted down like an Absol.

I nervously bit my lip. _The note meant deadly business! Dad and Storm's lives depended on mom showing up somewhere or... _I couldn't end my thought. I turned to Tidal-I was torn. "What do I do? Should I tell Grams and the police? Or should I try to save them on my own? Where's the place it's taking about? What would you do, Tide?"

He looked at me and then mom before answering. (If it were my parents taken by an unknown poacher, then I'd try to find them if the authorities were unable to find them. But I wouldn't do it by myself. ) He lowered his voice (I wouldn't show that to Delia or Misty. Speaking as a pokemon that's seen you grow, I believe that you have the potential to save your dad. Maybe this is the chance you've been waiting for)

"yeah. " I folded it up, put it into my pocket, and then got up out of the chair.

I knew what he was leaving unspoken: if I got the police involved the unknown kidnapper would take out dad, come back and finish mom off. Maybe even the rest of my family. I had to do it. I had no choice . I bent down and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Don't worry, mom. I'll be back with dad and storm. I promise. You just get better and I'll bring them back home safely " I vowed.

"You mind staying with her, Tide?" I asked the Azumarill. "I don't want any one to sneak-"

He cut me off with a wave of his paw (who is going to sneak in a room with an Azumarill in it, Derek?)

"Oh yeah. " I gave his left ear a pat. " How silly of me."

(Good luck)

"Thanks." I exited the room, leaving mom and tidal and closed the door quietly. I went up quietly to my room- I had to make some calls

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. busted or maybe not

**Busted or perhaps not **by Wild Croconaw

Plot: a Magnetric munching on food looks up and says, "WC doesn't own pokemon. But Derek, Aki, Jaden, and Sami are hers so NO TOUCHY!" It goes back to eating. Author's notes are the same as the last chapter except { dream begins}and {dream ends} are just that. Please read and review. Thanks

Xchapter starts belowX

{dream begins}

I was in a thick fog of some kind and my arms were being pinned behind my back so I couldn't move. I felt a cold hand hold my chin for a minute. A pair of brown eyes gazed into mine. the hand's owner was so close I could count the white stripes in their greasy green hair. " What do you think Cassidy?" a frog-like scratchy male voice was saying in a low whisper. " You think this whiny brat's is there kid? I mean he has the same looks as the boy and the girl's eyes." The speaker let go of my chin. I was sweating badly.

I felt the grip holding me tighten. A female voice hissed, "What do you think you idiot? course he is, butch! This could be our chance"

"Wh-who are you? Where dada and momma?" I sounded like a toddler . Mom and dad were shouting my name in the far distance. I bit my lip.

The first voice- butch- chuckled. A golden haired woman smiled down at me- her purple colored eyes sparkled as if thinking of something . I guessed this must be Cassidy "We're.. friends of your parents. We just want to help you find them " Her voice was dripping with fake sweetness. "Now if you just call out to them, then they'll hear you. They're really worried about you. We haven't seen them in ages and it would be so nice to have a little ..chat."

Something in her tone made me think she wasn't a friend She sounded like the big bad Mightyena . there was no way I was going to end up like little read riding hood. "Nuh-uh." I shook my head.

She growled dropping the sweet tone of voice . "What's the matter, little boy? Don't you want to see your parents? "

" You not fwends. You bad peoples " I said.

"You little brat!" She slapped me hard. I felt my face burn where she struck me . it hurt like heck and I felt it ! As i looked up I thought I saw a pidgeotto in the air but tears pricked my eyes. I blinked to get the tears out and the bird was gone

" He knows something's up- knows we're . Twist his arm- that might work" Butch said.

Cassidy twisted it. I trembled and let out a tiny gasp of pain- whoever these people were they wanted to lure my parents to them. "He's not doing anything to attract their attention,. why don't we make him scream ... loudly ". She looked at her partner and then at me evilly.

I looked down and saw a blade of some kind up against my throat . It moved down and I saw red dots . Blood. I couldn't help it. I screamed "Dada! Momma!"

"Leave him alone" dad's voice rang out of the fog. _Dada!_

Butch laughed. " what's the matter , twerps? Scared to come any closer? We're not going to slice up your kid" . under his breath I heard him add "at least not yet"

The blade left my throat. I breathed a sigh of relief but then I saw it at my side. Cassidy gave me a looked that said "Don't even try it"

"let him go now!" dad was furious at them. I knew they weren't friends.

'Like we're going to listen to you, brat "

" fine. Skyler, quick attack on Biff!"

Butch was irate. "Its butch! can't you idiots ever say it-URRRRRK!"

(eat my dust, loser!) a speeding fast pidgeotto dived down into his gut, a speeding white trail of light behind his tail feathers before flying back into the air. The attack slammed him into a nearby tree trunk.

"'kywer!" I recognized the flying type.

He looked down at me (you okay, squirt? )

I nodded. "where dada?"

But then butch got to his feet, maximized a pokeball and threw it into the air, calling out "Cloyster! Ice beam that bird!" As soon as it materialized from it's pokeball, the big water/ice Pokemon started firing ice Beams at Skyler, who dodged most of them but two of his tail feathers got hit

(oh come on!) he grumbled and then made a gesture at the other pokemon with a claw (nyah! Missed me, missed me, now Try to catch me , ya overgrown clam) he taunted before heading into the fog.

"after it!" butch yelled. The pokemon lumbered off into the fog.

I heard the sound of pokeballs being enlarged and opened. I saw two large mightyenas come up to Cassidy. "Find them and bring them to us. I want to make them suffer," she hissed to them. "They'll pay. Oh yes they will". I shuddered._ Who were these people and why did they want to make my parents suffer?_

"Derek? Where are you" I heard mom's voice but I couldn't see her.

"Momma! Momma!"

"That's it brat, come closer" butch said. There was a growl from the fog. I could tell Dad brought one of his pokemon out to help Skyler fight the cloyster . I shook from fear.

"Help! " I screamed as I saw the Mightyenas growl and lunge into the fog. The air was full of their ululations as well as the sound of my parents' pokemon fighting them. _What if the mightyenas overpowered daddy!_

" Don't you hurt him." Mom yelled.

"Is that a threat, twerp?" Cassidy asked sarcastically.

"You better not hurt him, Cassidy" mom growled.

She beckoned to me "don't worry, momma's coming"

" So it is a threat." Cassidy laughed.

"Oh, you mean like this?" She slashed the knife down my side with the blade-red lines appeared where the cold steel had been. I couldn't help it. "Momma! Dada!" I cried, tears and sweat pouring down my face.

I heard movement behind me and I saw a vicious looking raticate come up to Cassidy. "hyper beam them. I'll just say that that there was an 'accident' "

Suddenly the scene changed. I was in a different clearing. Something- thorny vines or something else- was holding me tightly.. I was fidgeting around in my bindings and something sticky-blood- was running down my skin. I looked to my side and saw my parents and pikachu held tightly by thick vines.

A shadowy figure was in front of us about five feet away – but somehow I couldn't see too many details about them except for a scared face. They pointed a gun right at me ! as they pulled the trigger, I heard my parents yell my name as I screamed theres.

" derek! Derek!"

" momma! Dada! Momma! Dada..."

/dream ends}

"... Mom...dad! mom! dad! "

(Derek wake up!) Something or someone was poking my side.

"Huh?" I sleepily opened my opened my eyes and saw Aki. I rubbed my eyes and got up on the bed, she had been poking me with her paw. I looked down and saw my blue sleeping shirt was covered in sweat.

"What's up?"

(You were shouting your parents' names.) She looked at me concerned. (You look a bit pale.)

"Bad dream" I muttered. I remembered it clearly and shuddered. _Only a dream _I thought _but why did it feel so vivid? _"Can't remember much about it" I lied .

(I wanna help you) she whispered. She knew what I was planning-she overheard me last night. (I wanna help find ash and mom)

I looked at her- her half tail laying flat on my bed . "but Ak, you can't -"

She sighed (I know. can't use electricity much but you don't have any pokemon of your own. I can use my paws and teeth. Besides, it would be risky going who knows where to rescue them with out any protection)

I looked at the pack by my bedside, thinking. _She does have a really good point. If dad knew I was going without any pokemon I'd be toast. For the love of mew I'm just a kid! He told me some of the scrapes he got in when he was younger -he wouldn't have made it out if it weren't for his pokemon. She is pretty good with her other attacks and pretty brave. If I asked anyone else they'd tell. I think it would be good for her to go. she and I both want to prove things to our parents and this might be the best way._

I looked back to her and managed a smile as I rubbed her chin. "You know, they say every human needs a good pokemon to help them out of jams. Despite your disadvantages, I've seen you knock out a lot bigger pokemon. " Her eye brightened. " I think you're almost as brave as Sasha. I mean you don't give up or anything and I do need someone who can hear far distances"

(You mean it?) I nodded. She jumped up and stared licking my face.

After a minute she stopped. "I'll go get ready"

(What about Pappa?)

I winced-I almost overlooked her dad. "Hopefully he's asleep. Tidal told me he wiped himself out yesterday."

Aki jumped off the bed as I got up and opened the door all the way for her. I watched her go into DJ and Aiden's room and then closed it. As I got ready I thought _this plan might be one of the most foolish things, if not the most, foolish thing I've ever done_

XTime laspeX XTime laspeX XTime laspeX XTime laspeX

About twenty minutes later I quietly opened the door. I had on a gray tattered t-shirt and blue capries. A white brimmed hat with a lightning bolt, covered my mess of dark hair. I wore a small gray backpack that I stuffed with a few super potions.

Aki was waiting for me at the top of the stairs . and I nodded. (are you going to tell dj and aiden)

I shook my head. "no. I don't want them to worry. You saw what dj was like yesterday ". She had been a complete wreck- I think she inheirited grams' worried gene. "it would hurt way to much"

(good point. the sooner we leave the quicker we can find them)

Without another word we walked down the stairs quietly . As we reached the last one I heard a familiar voice. (Where are you two going at this hour?) Pikachu said as he walked into the hallway- he looked worn out and tired. _Oh crud- we're toast_!

(morning pappa) Aki tried to act natural .

he tried to manage a smile (morning . where are y-you two off to at his early hour)

"umm. Picking up a delivery for Roquet ramen. Jaden said markus is sick so dave needs another hand to help him at the docks "

(then why do I smell super potions in your bag) He looked at us not believing it. (Yeah, and I'm Zapdos. Tell me the truth Derek)

I sat on the last step and he jumped up to join us. I pulled out the note. "Found this with mom last night"

I handed the note to him. While he read it to himself his fur spiked up and the color vanished from his face. He handed it back to me a few minutes later. He was at a loss for words. (That's ... that's...)

"I know. There's no word to describe it. That's why I have to go. "

(Your dad wouldn't let you put yourself in danger like that) he reasoned. (If misty saw that note-)

"She'd get even more panicked. You know she can't remember what happened..."

(She'd do anything for your dad)

(But she wouldn't know what to expect or where to go) Aki piped up. (It doesn't say where to go. The writer must think she knows)

_Thank you_ I thought. "It could be anywhere in kanto or even Johto"

(True. But how would you fight this kidnapper?) He inquired as his fur fell flat and the color returned . He was right-on my own I stood no chance but I had my friends on my side.

"I have a plan". _Oh Arceus I hope I know what I'm doing_

He sighed again. (Why don't you just call the police? This could be a lead to finding them.)

"The note said No police or tricks or else" I shuddered. I didn't want to know what 'or else' meant. . It means business".

(What about showing it to Delia? She might be able to track them down with Sunnie) he looked at me, nonverbally pleading me not to do something reckless.

_Cause I promised mom that I'd get them back._ Jaden, Sami and I came up with somewhat of a plan last night. "You didn't see her last night, Pikachu. She was trying to reassure me dad would be fine but I could tell she was s nervous and panicked. Anyways she's not that great a trainer-she's told me herself"

(She favors not getting involved, Pappa) Aki reminded him. (She doesn't like conflicts that much. You told me about how she helped that girl in the crystal tower when it was going all crazy and got her to calm down? The one who now writes books about legendaries? Sally or Millie or...) she prompted him

(Molly Hale) he corrected her.

(yeah , her. Didn't you also say that when ash came to rescue her she didn't want to cause a fight with that fake entei )

(well ...)

"Besides" I lowered my voice. "If she saw that note she'd freak out... Please Pikachu. I have to try " I paused waiting for his response.

(Look, Derek. Your parents are my best two human friends on the planet. I'd do anything for them and your mom would follow your dad to the end of the world. Whoever took your dad and Storm know. They- they mistook storm for me- asides from the size difference we look the same. they expect misty to go-)

"But Mom's injured" I butted in. "And if they expect mom to go it's gotta be a " I mouthed, "trap"-

" I'll go- I have to go. " Tears formed but I took no notice. " I promised mom last night. If someone doesn't show up at the right time-"

(Then we're are as good as dead. Please papa. We can save them) Aki begged. (You know it's the truth)

"It's also my chance to prove myself. Please I have to do this. You don't know how much this has hurt mom" _Please don't stop me. Please don't stop me_

Pikachu's eyes went from me to Aki and back again for a few minutes while I put the note away in my pocket. (I guess you're both right. if things get bad-)

I gave him a smile. "They won't. Trust me I know what I'm doing"._ Kind of_

He smiled . (I recognize that look. Ash gave it all the time when he was about to do something reckless ) he turned to Aki (promise me you won't do anything too reckless)

(I won't Pappa. I'll be safe. I'll bring Mom back) she touched electrical sacks with him. (I promise)

"I'll make sure she does. Ursa Scouts honnor"

We got up and went to the door. After I unlocked and opened it I knelt down and faced him again. "Please keep mom safe, pikachu, I know she's hurt. If I don't come back soon I gulped

(Magicarp-brain! Of course we're going to bring them back!) Aki looked at me with confidence. A flicker of sadness passed through her dad's eyes.

I hugged him. "I promise. I'll bring them back. Just don't tell mom or grams unless I don't come back or it gets too late"

He licked my hand (you are so your dad's son)

"Thought you told DJ last night that was a bad thing"

(it can be) He chuckled (in this case it's a good thing) he looked at me then at Aki. (Good luck you two) He gave me paws up sign as we slipped out the door. (May Arceus be with you.)

I quietly closed it and locked it. It was still early out so an early morning chill hung about.

(Jaden and Sami are here) Aki pointed to the large Oran berry tree about ten feet away from us, where two humans were talking.

As I got closer I saw Jaden and Sami. Sami, my other best friend, was a tall twelve-year-old tomboy with dark blue hair and amber eyes. She wore tan shorts and a tee shirt with a flock of bird pokemon on it. Above her a Swellow and Pidgeotto wearing an orange bandana were doing aerial maneuvers. A blue gray Rattata was running around her on the grass. (Told you I smelled them)

"Hush, Remy ". She looked at me as I came over. "Took you long enough. "

"Pikachu caught us," I explained

"He's not gonna rat you out is he?" Jaden asked.

"Surprisingly, no."

(And get the whole house upset? Have you ever seen misty mad Jaden? It's not pretty) Remy gave him a look and then jumped up onto Sami's outstretched arm.

"he's as hurt as mom is. Maybe even more so" I told jaden.

"here" Jaden handed me a plastic cup with a straw in it and then handed a smaller one to aki. . "Its a triple berry-bannana energy- boost smoothie"

"mmm" I said as I sipped the drink. The blend of oran berries, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, yogurt and peanut butter filled my mouth and I finished the drink in a few minutes. I threw the empty cups into the nearest trashcan after getting aki's. Sami gave me a powercrunch strawberry-chocolate granola bar as jaden gave aki some berries and a few sweet pokéblocks .

after we finished I fished the note out of . we all huddled around it. When Sami, Jaden and Remy looked at it the color from their faces vanished for a few minutes. "It's. Worse than I thought" Sami said. Jaden nodded.

Remy sniffed at the red smears. (Whoever did this is horrible. Those smears are splatters of blood. What's this line about entering a place you entered with him ago many years mean?)

Jaden, Aki and I looked at each other- we had no clue. "I don't know. It could be anywhere" I admitted "knowing my parents it could be any where. Where do we even start to look?"

Sami snapped her fingers. "Start? that's it! Derek you're a genius! I think I know where your dad is!"

"What do you mean you know where dad is?" I asked Sami

she grinned. " when you said, 'where do we even start to look' I had a flash of inspiration. I was reading medival Travels the other day. " I groaned. _I swear to mew she reads waaay too much_. " There was a chapter how in medivel times there was much more of a land mass between viridan -"

"huh?" Jaden was confused

. "When you get to the point of this , let me know.. in plain english " She scowled at my remark.

"Think about it you two . Where do all trainers have to pass through?" She replied

.

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. away we go!

Ch 4: **Off we go** by wildcroconaw

Plot: disclaimer: DON'T OWN ANY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS UNDERSTAND? That means that Derek, Sami, the monardrill, Jaden and Aki belong to me. Good, now that's out of the way onto the author's notes. Italics are thoughts. () Is translated pokèmon speech while " " is humans talking. {} -author's notes, AN, in them. If you take my characters I shall unleash my Giratina, Renegade

Renegade: can I use my shadow claw on them now

Not yet, Ren. If they take my characters or flame me then you can.

Renegade: I wanna shadow claw them now

Not now ren! Once they flame me you can

Renegade: goody

Enjoy!

Recap: "Huh?" Jaden was confused.

"When you get to the point of this, let me know. In English " She scowled at my remark.

"Think about it you two. Where do all trainers have to pass through?" She replied.

X fic starts belowX

"Um, the pallet City woods? " Jaden guessed

She shook her head. " Guess again jade"

"Viridian city?" I guessed. Again she shook her head

(Pewter City?)

"You're getting warmer Aki"

I thought hard._ Not viridian city, not the woods, not Pewter city_. Then it hit me! "The Overgrown Forest?"

"Yup!" The Overgrown Forest, or just "the Forest" was this enormous forest labyrinth between viridian city and Pewter city. Originally called the viridian forest it had grown vast over the decades owing in part to some mad ex-trainer of Erica's who experimented on pokèmon tried to take over Viridian City before they were stopped {AN: so people believe- hint! Hint! } rumor said some mutant pokèmon still lived deep within. Unless you had a flying or a psychic type that could teleport it was the only way, to reach Pewter City and could take days, even a month to navigate. Dad and other trainers made a walkway for trainers on one of the easier a few years ago . There were also rumors of a hidden gym in it.

" Let's go find them!"

"It's just like that cartoon we used to watch. " Jaden referred to our favorite childhood cartoons, Pokemon Rescue Adventures, about teams of pokèmon that went around on rescue missions. {AN: does the premise sound familiar to one of the many games?)

I could just see the headlines in the Pallet-Viridian Times- the local newspaper: Kids Save Frontier brain: Triple Teenage Threat- teens save frontier brain's life. _Then mom couldn't say no to letting me go on my own journey. Whatever they're hiding from me this rescue mission should be enough to_

Sami broke me out of my thoughts of glory by saying " good luck you three."

"Wh-what?

"Um, I'm not joining you guys" she replied

"But- but we're a team," Jaden sputtered.

(It's gonna be tricky without your help )

"You said it, Aki." She sighed. "It'll take luck and skill. And while we may be three of the top trainers at the school, we're only teenagers. You and Jaden are better trainers than me." I opened my mouth to say something but she beat me to it. "Use your brain Derek. If Pikachu said he wasn't going to tell on you you're in the clear."

(And Jaden's parents are so wrapped up in the shop and the Grand Festival) Remy put in

"Cause Jordan's in it" Jaden muttered under his breath

"But what about you?" I asked Sami

But Aki answered (considering your parentage if only two of you are spotted out it isn't odd. Gary and Dora would know something is up)

(Plus the starters need to get bathed and I think the Harrisons are coming over- something about testing a new pokechow. We all know how Ryan gets around those girls) Remy added.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. Oh crud! _There best friend- my godfather- is coming today. If he finds out that Dad's gone and mom's injured. _{AN: who do you THINK is Derek's godfather? obvious but here's a hint: he's a huge flirt when it comes to pretty girls}. " Tarous poo! If he finds out that dad's gone"

(Relax Derek) Remy saw the look on my face (I'm not sure they are coming today so don't quote me on that.)

"Dad would find out and he'd blab to your mom" Sami looked up. Jaden, Aki and I saw an upset look in her eyes. "Wish I could go with you guys."

"How are we supposed to get there? I mean we can't teleport there or " Sami silenced Jaden with a wave of her hand/

" Why do you think Talon and Sora are here?" she let out a long pidgey call. A minute later the Swellow and Pidgeotto above us flew down in front. The Swellow's tail feathers were fluffed out

(You rang, Samantha) the Swellow began to bow. The Pidgeotto smacked his head with her wing. (Owww)

(Featherbrain!) She glared at him (you know how much she hates that name).

"Thanks, Sora. Someone needs to teach Talon some common sense." Sami patted Sora on her neck for a minute.

(I have common sense) he muttered.

(Then use them) Sora pecked him.

"I've got a job for you. I need you to take Jaden, Aki, and Derek into the darkest part of the overgrown Forest. Without being seen"

They both nodded their heads (no problem)

Sora ducked down ad Aki and I got on her back. I easily got into the flying position, as did Jaden on Talon's back "Good luck guys" Sami told us

"You too" I told her, feeling myself go a bit pink. "I-"Don't think I can do this"

She looked me in the eyes. "You'll be okay Derek. You're a great trainer, you really are."

"Not as good as you" I muttered. " I mean you're really smart-"

"Me?" she chuckled. "Books and cleverness. .there are more important things- bravery and friendship., j-just be careful"

Jaden looked over at us. "I'd be worried about whoever took your dad and Storm. They're gonna be mincemeat when we reach them"

I stroked Sora's feathers with a shaking hand. "It's just- What if I'm unable to get them? What if I don't make it back? What if I..." I couldn't finish.

(You'll do great) Aki licked my hand. (You can do it)

I looked down at the little mouse for a few seconds. "I can?"

(You're one of the greatest trainers in Pallet!) Remy squeaked.

"You really think so?

Sora turned her gaze on me. (Think so? We KNOW so)

Jaden got off Talon and came over to us. "Don't beat yourself up. Meowth says um..."

Sami imitated Meowth- accent included "Dat kid's got da bigges' heart dat i know a. He doesn't know da meaning of da woid 'quit'. Must a got it from his old man. he wouldn't let nuttin' get in da way a his goals " She switched back to her normal voice. "Don't worry. After all you're the son of the Chosen One" I rolled my eyes- I knew that whole mess by heart.

(If anyone can save them it's you) Talon stated

My eyes darted from my two best friends to Storm, Remy to the bird pokèmon and back again. They would never let me down- if they believed I could do it, I could. I turned my hat around. "I'll- I'll do it" In spite of everything I smiled. "Thanks guys. Let's go save my dad and storm!"

There was a silent cheer and Jaden returned to talon's back. "Good luck" Sami repeated

I fished through my pocket, pulled out the note and handed it to her. "If we don't make it back before the deadline or something I- I want you to give this to my mom"

She took it from me. "But she'll freak out when she-"

Jaden realized something. "Hold on Sami. Der didn't leave a note even though he told pikachu. The note might be enough to restore Mrs. K's memory of what happened that night"

(Fair point Jaden) Aki told him. I bit my lip.

(You guys ready) Talon asked us and we nodded

(Hold on tight!) Sora zoomed up into the air. I wasn't scared – Dad had a bunch of flying types –I knew how to manage aerial riding. The surrounding areas zipped by_. I hope we're not too late. What if we meet up with that woman mom described? If she were able to wipe mom's memory and kidnap dad and storm, taking out two teens wouldn't be a problem. What if-_. .

Jaden looked at me breaking my train of thoughts. "Hey man, you worried about your dad?"

" Not really about him but about what we're gonna face. I mean it's like us walking into a Luxray's den. We don't know what will be there " I admitted

" I got your back" we didn't speak after that . Who knows what we would find. I got a chill down my body. I didn't know what we would find in the Overgrown Forest or where we'd find dad and storm. Not to mention where we would find them, I felt a shiver go down Aki's fur too. _Sometimes I wish my parents weren't famous_ I thought as we flew closer into the mass of trees.

To calm my nerves I recalled what I knew about The Forest. It was incredibly vast - in fact from the air it looked like a mass of green patches but we headed into a darker looking part. Since it was full of dense layers of trees it was dark and gloomy. Countless bug types, Weedles, Wurmples, and more lived there due to the dark environment. . It was allegedly where that trainer created the evil pokèmon. Suddenly I had a wierd sense of de ja vu and an image of a glowing Beedrill carrying me somewhere into a forest came into my mind, I gulped. _It's just nerves. It's just nerves. Why didn't I think of bringing antidotes? More so why did I chug down that smoothie and granola bar? _I got a bad vibe as we got closer. _What am I going to do? I'm just a kid! I've never really taken on anyone n a fight asides from bullies. there were those Spearows but I hope that we can get in to wherever they are being held and get them out safety. ..._I must have been thinking hard since I didn't notice we had landed until Aki poked me in the rib with her paw. "Huh?"

(We're here) she saw the worried look on my face (Whatcha thinking about)

" About what's waiting for use." I admitted as I got off Sora's back. She jumped onto my shoulder- her favorite spot.

Sora looked at us. (You guys be careful.) She gave my hat a playful nip with her beak. (Good luck)

(We will) Aki assured her. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Talon give Jaden, who had gotten off, the same kind of nip.

We went over to Jaden and saw them take off through the trees. Unfortunately the trees were so thick that we couldn't see them once they hit the treetops. We walked in silence for a while; Aki jumped down to the ground and sniffed the way with her nose. The sounds of the bird types twittering and chirping around us calmed me down a bit but I was still a bit jumpy. It was so dark that we couldn't really see what was in front of us. _It's not so bad_. "Where do you think we'll find them?" Jaden asked after a bit.

"I have no clue," I confessed

Aki's ears twitched and she stopped - she heard something. (Wait. I hear some- Ugghh)

Her 'Ugghh' was due to a big sticky glob of honey plopping onto her fur from somewhere above us. Seconds later a sticky glob fell onto the back of my shirt then a second one fell onto my hat. "Yuck!"

"Gross and icky is what i'd say," remarked Jaden

(You said that right) Aki was trying to clean her fur of the sticky stuff and failing. Then PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! Three more huge globs fell on us (My poor fur feels so gross now)

"Yeah" i agreed "but at least we aren't being attacked by combee or burmy or munchlax"

" As soon as we find your dad and storm we'll get that gross stuff off of you, " Jaden suggested

"Yeah..." i stopped in the middle of the path and aki and Jaden followed suit. I had heard something in the distance... something like a large group of wing beats that seemed to coming closer

"Der? What's up man? Why did you stop"?

"Thought i heard a bunch of wing beats coming toward us"

(Turn around slowly humans. We not attack ...yet. You turn around) a voice buzzed.

We turned around. Jaden gave out a little yell. "YIPES!"

"Don't move a muscle," I said from the corner of my mouth. I understood why he screamed. There was a huge swarm of bug pokèmon flying around us- venomoths, Beautiflies, and more-. In front were two large oddly glowing Dustox and a huge pokèmon that was a mix of a Butterfree and a Beedrill. It's body looked like a butterfree but with a Beedril's coloring. It's nose-like structure was a pale blue color. It had two large antennae, a slightly pointed mouth and two Beedrill arms as well as butterfree ones. It's compound, eyes looked like a Beedrill &had four sets of razor sharp wings. Two stingers were on the tip of its body its antennae were glowing blue. I recognized it- it was a Monardrill. My heart pounded- Monardrills had an ability called Angry swarm that would let them control other bug types... but that was only if they were really angry.

The bugs circled us. "Wh-what do they want with us" Jaden asked.

"No clue". It wasn't the bugs or the monardrill but the Dustox that unnerved me.

The monardrill looked and pointed a wing at us then at aki. (odd dustox say you steal honey from hive.) The bugs around us stopped circling and simply hovered in the air, as if daring us to attack. (If not true let you go we will. But it looks to be true. )

Even though i could tell this monardrill wasn't the smartest bug in the swarm i knew it was serious. (N-n-no.) Aki tried to act braver than she was (we didn't steal-)

(It liessss) one of the weird Dustox buzzed, making my skin crawl. (Bind it and the humans. They have honey on there skins)

I shook my head. "Sh-she's n-not lying. We just got here. The honey plopped on us from above." _I have a strange feeling i know who dropped the honey on us_

The Monardrill looked at us as if trying to decide if i was telling the truth and twitched its wings (you not steal honey from hive then?) Murmurs went through the crowd.

"No. We don't know where anything is," Jaden honestly said.

Murmurs went through the crowd. I noticed something yellow on the second Dustox's wingtips and arms. "Look at the Dustox. It has something on its -"

They let out an ear-shattering screech that made us put our hands over our ears (LIES! THIS HUMAN TELLS ALL LIES! KILL THEM! ATT-)

murmurs and whispers went through the circle of bugs. The Monaradril put up a stinger and silence fell. It glared at the Dustox (you now tell swarm to attack. You strangers here. Swoba'a. where be Swoba'a?)

i heard whispers among the swarm. (Swoba'a.)

(Swoba'a tell if lying or not)

(She can read humans minds)

"who's Swoba'a?" I whispered to Jaden.

he shrugged. "dunno. The name sounds like a Swoobat"

from the crowd a lone figure appeared- indeed it was a Swoobat. Anold shiny Swoobat . she flew up to us. ( I be Swoba'a . probe minds for truth I will) she closed her eyes and I heard a slight humming for a minute. Then she opened them. The shiny pokèmon turned to the Dustox, eyes narrowed.

(Humans tell truth. They not steal from hive…. You do!) She unleashed a psybeam at the same time as a shadow ball was sent out from the Dustox. (You frame humans!) Within a matter of seconds there were attacks flying left and right.

"Come on!" Jaden told us "let's get out of here!"

We ran as fast as we could away from the fighting bugs. It was hard because aki and I were covered in honey

After we had gone a while we saw Swoba'a fly in front of us so we stoped (get stickiness of you I shall) she used a light confusion attack so that the honey was wiped off of us.

"Thank you " I bowed respectfully.

(Run away you should, Dustox still angry- wanted you they did)

We nodded and resumed our running. "Those Dustox framed us" I said out loud as we ran. "But why"

"I don't know. " Jaden answered.

Then we heard a buzzing noise and we looked behind us. (DUCK!) Aki yelled. We did just that, missing the Razor wind flying over our heads.

"Something tells me those Dustox want to finish us off," I muttered

"Well" Jaden said as he took out Severus' pokéball and enlarged it. "They can't find us if we disappear in smoke. " He threw it into the air " Severus come on out!"

"Ahh. I get what you're saying" I grinned as his Seviper materialized him to make the biggest smokescreen/haze cloud he could.

(Issss thisss good enough Jaden) the snake asked after he completed his task

"Yup. Great job" he replied. All four of us ran as fast as we could- we knew it would hold

We ran untill we hit a fork in the path next to a dark looking cave. Jaden panted for breath. "I ... think... we lost them" he said.

(Wrong-o humans) a voice buzzed. We looked up and saw those weird Dustox again. _What is with those things?_

Just as Jaden was about to tell Severus to use flamethrower the bugs' eyes glowed blue. A blue outline appeared around my friend and his pokemon.

"What's going on?" Jaden said as they were lifted into the air and slammed against a tree. They fell to the ground. The two Dustox waved their wings and Jaden and Severus' eyes closed as if asleep. The four eyes went back to normal. Aki Jumped into my open arms and I held her tight. _That's impossible_

(Now that we've gotten rid of the spare.) One began.

(Time to deal with you) the second one ended. It flapped it's wings hard- the gust attack was so strong it sent us into the mouth of the cave! Before we could climb out we saw their eyes flash. A huge pile of rocks came down over the entrance leaving only a silver of light.

(Wh-what do we do now?)

"No clue" I said.

(Something's pulling me into the cave) I noticed that aki's fur was fur standing on end. She was slipping out of my hands but I grabbed her tightly. The unknown force got stronge

"Help-" I managed to yell before the unknown forces sucked us into the mouth of the cave. Aki's fur was standing on end. As it pulled us into the unknown, I noticed that we were going doing a large metal tube.

(Where are we going?) she whispered as we fell

"I –don't know," I admitted.

(I'm scared) she told me as we were sucked down a long tube.

"Don't worry. We're gonna to be fine" I reassured her._ I hope_ I noticed a light coming from the end of the tube, a light that was quickly approaching

THUD! We landed on the cold floor of a large room.

(Owww) Aki muttered as she wriggled out of my arms.

"Are you okay?"

She checked herself over. (I think so. Where are we?)

"no clue". I got up off the dusty floor and looked about the gray dark room. I looked around- it looked like a small indoor field of some sort. There was a door on each side of the room. Aki ran up to the one nearest us and tried to open it. She ran back to me and shook her head. (It's locked). _I bet the other one is too_ There was a balcony above our heads. _It's the hidden gym but why are the doors locked_

I noticed something or rather someone in the middle of the room. The person was on their side in a net on the floor. From what I could see their hands and legs were tied up tightly. I saw a mess of untidy black hair... which matched my own . _It couldn't be... could it?_

"Dad?"

To be continued.


	6. enter the kidnapper!

J's entrance by WildCroconaw

Plot: want dementors to take your soul? Didn't think so . don't assume I own Pokemon OR steal Derek and Aki without asking me! Italics are thoughts. () Is translated Pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. Oh yeah, I've never seen the episodes J is in {haven't watched the anime in years} so I don't know how she talks or anything. If I get anything wrong please don't hammer me with flames, Enjoy!

Recap: I noticed something or rather someone in the middle of the room. The person was on their side in a net on the floor. From what I could see their hands and legs were tied up tightly. _It couldn't be... could it? _"Dad?

Xchapter begins below

_No way.. it can't be._ I thought as Aki ran up to him to make sure it wasn't a trick. Then again mom did say she knew he was still alive-that he couldn't be dead. She went around him once, sniffing the body . She looked upbeat as she bounced back to me ( it's Ash alright. He's alive ... but he's hurt badly) she looked worried (if he's there... then where's mom?) she choked back a tear.

I hugged her. _where WAS storm._ "don't worry, we'll find her. She can't be far "

she blinked gratefully. (thanks. I think that whole thing with those freaky Dustox shook me up) her face brightened (maybe ash knows where mom is)

"good deduction" I patted her and then I bolted over to the net, Aki at my side shouting his name. "Dad! Wake up!" He groaned at the sound of my voice.

(look) Aki pointed with her paw at dad. A small gasp escaped my mouth as I looked down . he looked pretty bad- one of his eyes was swollen and there were bloody wounds all over him. One shoulder was messed up real badly whereas there was a dried deep gash on his other shoulder. Burn marks covered his face and arms. His shirt and shorts- what he must have been wearing that night were ripped, and had red marks on them. He was mumbling something I couldn't understand through the gag around his mouth but it sounded like mom's name. His hands and legs were tied behind him- but with the strangest looking rope I'd ever seen- it was pink and looked to be made out of a thick rope. Upon closer inspection I realized that there was a pulsating pink gas like band over a regular rope.

Aki sniffed it and then backed away . (I think that pink gas thing is a Munna or Musharna's Dream Mist) it took a few minutes gazing at it but something clicked in her . she looked up at me (that would explain why your mom couldn't contact him through mewtwo's bond)

_so it blocked off his mind. But if someone put dream mist on the rope then they must know about the bond. But it's pretty hush- hush so how would they know _"dad! Turn around! It's me!" I said as I walked around to face him. at the sound of my voice he slowly looked up. his eyes were big as Electrodes and he tried to say something through the gag. Aki and I studied the net-it was a heavy one. _It looks strong_

(I can break that with my iron Paw and Ice Punch attacks) she told me. dad shook his head. I stepped to the side. Aki's right forepaw glowed white and she slammed it into the net as it became surrounded in white sparkles. The net started to snap apart after she used it three times but it didn't break. Her paw went back to normal

She closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them as her left forepaw glowed with a cold blue tinge. She let out a battle cry as she struck the net with the attack. She had to do the attack at least four times until the net and the dream mist were frozen. Next she used mega punch which then shattered the net and dream mist into a thousand tiny fragments on the ground her paw returned to normal

I knelt down and yanked the gag off his mouth. Aki went around the back to untie his hands with her teeth . I bent down and tried to untie the thick knots of rope around his legs. "What you doing here, Derek?" he whispered looking around the room as if he expected someone to barge in.

"I ... had to come. There was a ransom note next to mom and it said for her to come here or else. But I couldn't let her go after she had been injured -"

his eyes lit up. "she's still alive?"

Aki stopped chewing the rope for a few seconds to answer. ( injured badly and doesn't remember much of what happened. But other than that she's alive.) she went back to chewing the rope.

I nodded. "she... knows you're still alive but she couldn't find you"

he smiled for a brief second. "knew Misty wouldn't give up on me easily . it's that stupid Dream Mist rope she put on me"

(Who you talking about ?) Aki said through mouthfuls of rope so it sounded more like 'foo yoo 'awking abou'.

I had a weird feeling who "she" was. "is she the same person who caused the injuries?" I blurted out.

A pained look appeared in dad's eyes . "yes"

"mom said that you had this look on like someone rose from the d-dead" I gulped.

"I thought she was... I didn't think she had survived " he glanced again nervously around the room. He struggled against his bonds. "we have to get out of here before she comes back. She ... went in the back with Storm"

Aki stood up as she got one arm free. (show me where she is! I'll tear her to bits)

Dad shook his head . "Trust me, Aki. The person who has your mom... she's capable of unspeakable evils- you wouldn't stand a chance alone ..You don't want to know"

"Try us". I stopped untying him to listen. So did Aki.

He sighed. "Years ago in Sinnoh there was this bounty hunter May, Brock, Pikachu and I ran into a bunch-"

"I remember Jaden's parents saying something about some bounty hunter there .they wanted to get revenge but never had the chance. said She was a sociopathic, ruthless, greedy, b-URRRK"

some huge mass hit me in the gut and sent me flying to the wall. I heard Dad and Aki yell my name as I hit it- hard. _Holy Ho-oh that stung_ I thought as I got up but before I could move an inch a huge dark tail pinned me to the wall. I looked and my eyes followed the tail, my worry rising. The tail belonged to a Dragonite. _this is NOT good._

I'd seen the psuedo-legendary before. Mom had one she raised from a Dratini dad surprised her with for Valentine's Day one year but between hers and this one there were some major differences. Aurora had orange skin, friendly eyes and a kind-hearted motherly nature. But the dragon keeping me from running was pure dark and evil from its horns to the tail – way different than 'Rora'- DJ's nickname for her. Its eyes locked with mine- unlike Rora there was no warmth or in them- just pure coldness. I would not be surprised if an Icicle Spear attack shot out of them . I saw its hands looked a lot longer and much stronger than a regular Dragonite's. (Who are you? why are you here, human) it rumbled

I gulped- even it's voice oozed evilness. _Think Derek think_ I thought. "I'm n-nobody... j-just a p-passing trainer." I said the first lie that came into my head. "I wanted to see what this place is and I saw that man-"

"is that so?" A new voice entered the room. I looked over the Dragonite's shoulder and saw an older woman dressed in a dark suit with silver and gray hair. Her face was stone cold. her ice blue eyes glared daggers at me. She was carrying a squirming bag of some sort in one hand. " Dark Dragonite bring the boy to me".

The dragon released its grip on its tail. I fell to the floor. But before I could move blue electricity sparks came from its claws. (Oh no you don't) Aki rammed the dragon's tail, latched onto it and bit with her might. It screamed in pain and the electric sparks vanished

(How dare you touch me, you pest) it tried to fling her off its tail by smacking it against the floor but she held firm despite getting lots of bruises. (Get off my tail you runt)

The tail turned a glowing silver as aki unfastened her teeth from the tail and jumped off . but she wasn't fast enough. An Iron tail attack caught her side and smacked her across the room. She fell to the floor and I saw she had a decent cut on her side from the attack. . "Aki! Are you –" I started but a jolt of electricity hit my legs and my muscles froze up. _Damm dragonite_

I couldn't move as the dragon picked me up, dragged me across the room held me in front of the woman. I was so close I saw my frightened expression reflected in her cold eyes. She looked from dad to me to aki and back again as if looking to see if we were related. "Who are you brat?

" I t-told you I'm nobody just-"

Her eyes glinted. " haven't you been taught not to lie boy? You look too pathetic to be a trainer and what person would train with that" she glanced toward Aki. I felt anger bubble up inside me but I remained quiet ." dark dragonite, tighten your grip "

( yes master) it did as the woman commanded and my arms felt a sharp pain.

"what do you want with me?"

she smiled and a shiver ran down my spine but remained silent. "You vile woman! Let me go! Can't you tell my pikachu's injured?"

The Dragonite replied by giving me a sharp Thunderbolt for ten minutes. I screamed from the painful electric attack as dad yelled too . I felt my shirt smoking from the attack and smelt burnt skin. I looked up into her ice-cold eyes. " Leave.. me, my pikachu and my... dad.. Alone" I panted

"Your... dad? " The woman looked over at me. "Your. Dad?"

"oops" _dang it Derek! Why can't you keep your mouth shut for once!_

" I knew it! This makes it even better!" I had a bad feeling about this. _That doesn't sound good_ "I knew there was something familiar about you and your actions" She addressed dad. " Looks like someone's got your oh-so- foolish 'heroic''" she said the word sarcastically, "qualities. How pathetic." She spat on the floor

Dad glared - a look I recognized too well. "Leave him alone J! This is between you and me! it's been over twenty years!"

J laughed. her laugh made my spine tingle. "You think that's a reason for letting you go free? I told you before twerp, you ruined my life! I was going to sell that rat of yours- I remember thinking it was powerful. I was right. But you tricked me into taking that no-good, worthless pathetic one! My employer wants to get revenge on you too as well as that scrawny excuse of a wife- "

_That does it!_ I had enough of her talk. Using my left arm I socked her in the gut as I kneed the Dragonite hard - enough for it to release its hold on me. They both screamed in pain . I ran over to Dad. Aki was already there. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and licked my hand. (Yeah. I got a bit bruised but I'm fine).

"She's twisted and beyond evil. I know I shouldn't hit a girl. She's just plain twisted so I'm not even counting her as a girl." I muttered as I bent down and resumed untying the rope.

Dad nodded. "She's one of the evilest humans I ever faced. Her Drapion nearly squeezed me to death once"

"What?" my jaw dropped. I knew Drapions were really powerful but to actually sic it on a human and order it to crush them to death was unspeakable evil. There was no word to describe it . I finished untying the rope and with some encouragement from Aki we got dad to his feet. " How did you escape from -"

(DUCK!) Aki yelled. we ducked as a huge Ice beam flew over our heads. We turned around saw the door behind us now encased in thick sharp ice. (Now how do we get out?) she muttered as she clutched my jeans.

"We're trapped like a raticate," I muttered. Thinking quickly I turned back around I told aki, " mega punch!"

Her paw began to glow but J screamed, " stop or I'll skin it" and Aki froze.

she had an evil looking smile despite being punched in the gut a few minutes ago. "You forgot about something" she held up a trembling pale yellow creature with one hand, a sharp dagger under her throat. _So that's who was in the bag- Storm!_ "Tell that runt to stop or we'll find out how filthy this creature's blood is. Do it now " she threatened.

Aki's paw went back to normal but her fur-spiked up- she was furious. Tiny electrical sparks were puffing out of her cheek sacks. (You witch! That's my mom! Let her go!) She growled as loud as she could. (You evil she-dog! Mom!)

I scooped her up so she wouldn't hurt herself and got a tiny shock as I did- both literally and figuratively. I felt my blood boil up at the sight of Storm. "What did you do to her?"

"Don't move or else " J terrorized us, holding Storm in a vice like grip so that she couldn't move without injuring herself- the knife right under to her throat. I saw she was really pale and like dad she was thin. red cuts and wounds danced over her body. I shuddered when I saw whip and burn marks over her. One of her paws was hanging limply at her side , she had trickles of red running down her fur.

J looked me in the eyes. "You. Boy... battle me."

Storm shook her head (no derek.) she whispered (don't. she won't fight fair.)

I shook my head. "you're part of my ohana. I won't leave you behind"

(I'm not worth it. You've got to get out of -) J 'acidently' moved her closer to the knife, which dug into her fur.

I stood up as tall as I could. "Let storm go first" I tried to sound brave but inside I felt like jello.

She looked down at her captive. "This thing has a name? Worthless is what it is. It can't use any electric attacks so No one will buy it. it's weaker than a kakuna or a magicarp. And what's that supposed to be? " She looked at Aki. "Useless number two? Its tail is totally ruined and cut. How can that thing even battle or fight "

Aki tried to squiggle her way out of my arms. (Useless? I'll show her useless. Lemme at her Derek) she muttered

I understood her anger. As much as I wanted to let her at J, I didn't want to risk Storm's life. I shook my head. "No. I promised your dad I wouldn't let you get hurt. please Aki."

( okay ) she stopped squirming and her fur lay flat. Her cheeks stopped sparking.

"She's not worthless" I yelled at J. "pokèmon, whether they have a huge amount of power or different talents, aren't worthless. Nor are they things to be sold on the black market- they are wonderful creatures to be treated with love and kindness and respect. Storm has her own uniqueness so she's one special pikachu " I saw her look at me with a look of gratitude.

"Love and kindness? Respect?" Pah!" J scoffed. Another little hiss of anger escaped from Aki's throat. "That is the most sickening thing I've ever heard. You're just as soft hearted as him " she glanced toward dad with a look of pure hatred. "He is a pathetic wimp-"

_No one insults my family like that!_ "That's my dad you're talking about!" I yowled. "He's accomplished more brave things and goals than you ever will!" I raised my voice. "I don't know what happened in the past and frankly I don't give a Raticate's rear. I won't battle you unless you release Storm so let her go now"

J removed the dagger from Storm and looked at her with distain like she was a piece of Growlithe poo. "Fine. It's useless anyways". She then flung the mouse as hard as she could across the room- not before giving her fur a little nick with the blade. We watched her sail through the air and fall into a corner. "Good riddance to it"

Dad rushed over to her as Aki jumped down out of my arms and walked a foot in front of me. (She's going down. She is so toast for what she did to mom) she looked at me- there was a fierceness in her eyes.

J calmly put the knife away and looked at the Dragonite. She gazed at aki then back at the evil dragon and said four words that made my blood run cold. "Dark Dragonite, kill it""

No sooner had she said those words it lunged at the little Pikachu!

To Be Continued


	7. round one! aki against dark dragonit

: round one : **Aki verses Dark Dragonite** by WildCroconaw

Plot: I asked for the rights to Pokemon, Harry Potter and Warriors for Hanukkah last year but didn't get them. Drat! There' s a line from the first harry potter film in this chapter. Can you find it? See the previous chapter for author's notes.

Recap: She said four words that made my blood run cold. "Dark Dragonite, kill it" No sooner had she said those words it lunged at the little Pikachu!

X chapter begins belowX

my heart pounded super fast when I saw the black dragon lunge at her.! "get out of the way Aki! Don't let that ... thing crush you" I shouted.

With rapid quickness , Aki moved out of the way with her Agility. Moments later, Dark Dragonite slammed into the spot where she had been moments ago. _That was a close one_I thought . the force of the blow was so great it shook the room. I bounced back a few feet- nearly knocked onto the ground. I was close enough that I could see the despicable dragon's eyes full of hatred as It got up and I saw that it had made a huge crater in the floor. I gulped.

(You missed) Aki blew a raspberry at it .

"Crush that mouse! Twister!" J yelled.

The creature flapped its dark wings. Mini tornados came out of it towards her. "Dodge them with agility and then quick attack!" I shouted the first attack that came into my head. I saw Aki hit the Dragonite square on-it's cries of pain roared in my ears. "Nice job, Aki! Now use slash on it's arms . "

The attack hit it's mark- the dragon roared with pain. She jumped to avoid being hit with an Ice Punch, which clipped her right ear. ( That was my ear! Brrrrr!)

The dragon ignored her and just continued attacking with ice and mega punches , with Aki missing the attack-. (why won't... you give up ?) it growled

I smiled- she was pretty persistent and didn't let her disability electricity stop her. " "cause she's determined to best you, you oversized lizard" I replied back

However J's next command made my smile vanish and a look of horror replace it within an instant. " that does it brat! dark dragonite Double team!" even before J ended there were four other Dragonites around Aki !

(that's not ... possible) she squeaked in terror, echoing my very thoughts. I was astounded! The other fake dragons looked so lifelike that it appeared to have used substitute at least three times! They didn't even look fake!

J looked up at me, noticing the scared look on dad and my faces . "Dark Dragonite's been genetically enhanced so that double team actually creates realistic strong Substitutes. The clones' attack well " her eyes glinted " your pipsqueak is about find out how painfully they can be! Dark Dragonites, slam snd mega punch! Squash that creature to the floor!"

I could only watch as all fire dragons tried to make her part of the floor. she would avoid one then get punched by another. _What can I do? What can I do? _I thought as I heard her cries. it was painful to watch and I had to glance down at my feet and saw my shivering shadow for a few seconds .then I realized something: _the copies don't cast shadows!_

I summoned my courage. _please arceus let this work_ i thought and then cried out " Aki! Don't look right at the copies! Get the Dragonite with a shadow- that's the real one "

she nodded. At once she used quick attack, tackle, agility, headbut, detect and double team to avoid the blows and to try to take it down. Now that she knew which one to look for, the mouse was doing better on the attack front.

But it wasn't easy- the dragons kept on bombarding her with attacks . She looked up and I saw her focus, Just as she discovered the real dragon. the copies Slammed into her. I winced as she cried in pain and then skidded across the floor. mini tornados appeared in their wings and they unleashed the Twister attacks at her!

I saw that she was injured and knew she'd be worse if the Twister attacks hit. "Flatten yourself to the floor!"

She heeded my warning and the attacks missed by inches! The dragons created by the double team disappeared "stupid rat!" J muttered.

Storm and I shouted at the same time, "Way to go aki!" (that's my girl!)

Before I could call out a command, J yelled out, "Twister again ! make sure it hits ! Wipe the floor with that thing!"

the tornados appeared in its wings again. (not again!) aki moaned- I could tell she was tired.

(Aki Run!) Storm yelled from dad's arms- her ears twitched . She then whispered to me, her eyes fearful. (It's going to use shock wave on her after )

"Aki! Avoid the Twisters with your agility! Make it so the shock wave doesn't hit you!" I told her, starting to get worried, as she became a quick blur. Shock Wave was a move that never missed.

"You little sneak! How did you know-" J glanced over at Storm-her face in an ugly smile. "It's that creature. never mind the fact it can't use electricity -it can read minds. It's worth a fortune!"

I ignored her, reached in my bag pulled out a Super Potion spray bottle and trying to keep my eyes on Aki-who was doing a great job avoiding the Twister attacks

" Now use your Slam, headbutt and tackle attacks" I kept my voice calm as she switched to those attacks. I walked over to dad and handed it to him. " Here she looks like she needs it"

"Thanks"

(look at her go! )Storm looked at her daughter.

I looked at Aki as she slammed into the Dragonite and gave it a good headbutt . "Good job Aki. You're doing great. "

I saw her give me a wink (piece of Oran berry cake) then J told the dragon to use Ice Beam to make her trip. I bit my lip as she raced around using Agility and double team trying to avoid the ice attack. _Come on Aki!_

"She's in trouble!" dad commented as aki's movements got slower and she slipped on the ice. _Oh no!_

She looked up to see the dragon looming over her. (Yipes) she swallowed back her worry.

But before I could shout something out it unleashed a massive ice beam attack freezing all but her head. (Help!) She cried out and I saw her fur turn blue under the ice. _No_

(Mom! Derek! Ash! Please Help me -i'm stuck! ) she tried to break free. I couldn't do anything- seeing her trapped like this hurt me.

"Aki!" I yelled. "please let her go! You're hurting her"

J and the dark dragon laughed coldly as she continued to free herself from her prison but no such luck . J waved her finger at me. "oh no, brat. I'm not through with the rodent just yet. Now Dark Dragonite! Shock Wave that wimpy excuse for an electric pokemon super hard!" she yelled.

A strong blue blast of electricity came out of her dragon's horns and hit Aki! It hurt her more because of her ice beam cage. (YEEEEOOOOW!) she hollered

Storm' s eyes went wide as the electricity hit her daughter "NOO!" Storm, Dad and I all yelled at the same time I felt the same way Storm did. I learned in school that Shock Wave was so powerful that if a Pikachu got overloaded with electricity from the attack it would make them really sick-maybe even kill them. I didn't know if that applied to Aki or not. Just watching it made me sick. _No please no. I can't take any more of this- this torture._

The attack stopped ten or fifteen minutes later. To my horror she was hardly moving and breathing and had electrical burn marks on her fur. She was still strapped in the ice. Storm's eyes were wide with fright (please be okay, baby. Please oh please) she whispered.

I bit back tears. "Is she-she's not-" I couldn't say the word. . _Pikachu's going to kill me if she doesn't make it _I thought. _This is my fault._

Dad shook his head. "I don't think so. Look- her ears twitched"

For a few minutes nothing happened. Then Aki's chest rose. (Mom... derek.. ) her voice sounded weak as she panted between words (I'm... okay)

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. _great Mew I thought she was a goner. _The despicable dragon crushed Aki's ice prison with its foot and kicked her to the other side of the floor, she didn't move. (Pathetic) it rumbled as it met my eyes. (Simply pathetic and weak. If that's the best you can do against me, human, and then you might want to surrender)

I bit my lip- resolute not to show my fear _Arceus, ho-oh, whoever's up there please let Aki survive. I promised her dad that she wouldn't get hurt. Please let us make it out of here in one piece. _I thought in my head. If they heard that, maybe just maybe I stood a chance. The tough part was not showing J.

J looked over at us. "Your runty rat is weak beyond weak -"

Dad and I yelled at the same time " she's not a rat nor is she weak J! "

I balled my hands into fists, . " Don't you dare call her that"_ what i so wouldn't give to punch her _

She pooh-poohed us with a wave of her hand and went on, looking at dad. "But it won't last much longer. You actually thought that useless thing would be able to take down Dark Dragonite? Foolish idiot! It's heart and emotions have been locked away so it will follow my every command. It was created to obey me. If I said to Hyper Beam it to bits it would do so without question" she indicated Aki. for the second time I felt the urge to pound J for calling her an object rise up but i contented myself by giving her a dirty look . " Those creatures only exist to make a profit. Your way is weak- they don't need love or kindness. There is no good and evil in this . There is only power... and those too weak to seek it. you two fall into the weakling category. I could easily have dark dragonite kill it right now and then get rid of you "

(You do, you're beyond toast) Storm growled but again J ignored her. "But seeing as that pipsqueak in your arms can read minds and can be sold for a fortune, it more than makes up for the other pathetic runt"

Storm shivered in dad's arms. " if you lay so much as a finger on her I'll-" dad began but J raised her eyebrows and waved her hand.

"pah! you and what army? that creature? the boy? if you hand it over now i might change my mind about torturing you before my employer comes... too much " she smirked. "if you die , well, it doesn't matter to me"

(don't do it) storm looked at dad then at me. (she won't keep her word ) she whispered in a soft voice.

"I know. " dad replied. I got a look at his facial expression- a mixture of fear and worry. i didn't blame him- from what i had seen so far J was utterly ruthless and evil and had no honor, decency or regard for any form of life- human or pokemon. _storm's right- she'll go back on her words and then we're all doomed_

"well? If you don't give that to me I'll take it away from your cold dead fingers. like i said in this world there's only power... and those too weak to seek it. with that not so useless weakling at my side i will rise to power and take over even the league and no one will be able to stop me "

I opened my mouth to say something against this but it was a different voice who beat me to the punch.- a tired sounding voice (You're ... wrong) the voice panted.

When we saw who the speaker was Dad, Storm and I were astounded. "Aki?"

(You're totally and... completely wrong) she echoed as she woozily got up and faced J.

To Be Continued


	8. interlude: character and attack guide

Interlude: Character and attack guide

Warning: spoilers for future chapters marked by ** ****spoiler** ** **

**Ash Ketchem**

Age: 37-38

Title(s): frontier brain of the Pallet Battle Park, teacher, father

Personality: still the caring trainer we all know – just grown up. He is responsible for making the Trainer's school idea happen. Has been happily married to misty for over ten years and has three kids- Derek, Delia Jane ("DJ) and Aiden. .**spoiler ** Due to a failed murder attempt when Derek was little, which he has kept secret, he refuses to let him go. He doesn't really like the subject of Jaden's parents even though they have renounced their old ways.

Kids: Derek, DJ and Aiden

Pokémon: way too many to count.

**Misty Ketchum**

Age: 38

Titles: wife, teacher (part time),

Personality: our fave female traveling companion is now a devoted mother and wife. Loves her children but like her husband has kept a secret from her oldest son. Unlike Ash, she sees no reason to hold grudges against Jessie, Meowth and James for their past. She is the peacemaker of the Ketchum family and tries her best to keep Derek and Ash from butting heads. She is pretty able to keep her temper under control.

Kids: Derek, DJ and Aiden

Pokemon: way too many

**Derek Erickson Ketchum**

Age: 12 1/2

Description: like his dad he has black hair. Four feet tall with green eyes. Love wearing his patched jeans and tee shirts. Has a few slash marks on his cheek where a Purugly slashed him.

Personality: Derek has bits of his parents' personalities - he can be stubborn and is known to get a big head. Has a hard time controlling his temper at times but also cares a lot for his siblings and his friends. He doesn't know why his parents won't let him go on his own journey. Having being around Pokémon all his life he is pretty knowledgeable about them. Butts heads with his dad a lot! His best friends are Jaden and Sami oak.

Siblings: DJ and Aiden

Pokémon (of his own): ******spoiler** ** **Flamie- a female growlithe that he nursed back to health after saving her from a Spearow pack attack from her abusive ex-trainer. His parents don't know about her as Derek keeps her hidden at Sami's parents' lab.

**Jameson "Jaden"**

Age: 12

Family: Jessie and James- parents, Jordan-older sister

Description: shaggy short maroon hair. Hazel eyes. About five feet tall. Loves his bomber jacket. Wears a white tee shirt that advertises his parents costume shop/ resturant, Roquet ramen,

Personality: not at all what one would expect of Jessie and James' son. Jaden inherited his mother's hair as well as her love for snake pokemon. From his dad he got his cool attitude. He doesn't speak that loudly unless he needs to. His older Jordan constantly irritates him. He can put up his own in a pokemon battle but lacks confidence. Loner. He is fluent in serpent-tongue (the language of snake pokemon).

Pokemon: Severus - a male arbok that is the offspring of venom (a female ekans Jessie found) and her Seviper. Friendly and calm...but in battle watch out. He is as loyal as a growlithe when it comes to protecting 'young master and friends'

**Samantha "Sami" kyralie Oak**

Family: Dora (the head of the lab in 'putting the air back in Aerodactyl') and Gary oak-parents, ryan-twin brother

Age: 12

Description: fairly tall girl. Has indigo blue hair like her mom that spikes in the back. Amber eyes. Wears a white shirt under a blue sweater and jeans. has her dad's old ying-yang pendent

Personality: book smart-carries around a notepad at all times. . Her brother Ryan, who is a big flirt, annoys her. Tries to remain optimistic. Knows a lot about pokemon due to helping out her parents. She loves her mom's Aerodactyl, terra. ******spoiler** ** **she has a huge crush on Derek

Pokemon (of her own) : Remy - gray-blue Ratatta. He has a very high sense of smell

Sora- female pidgeotto- she wears an orange bandana around her neck and is very fast for her species. Friendly rival with Talon, a Swellow

Apollo – male natu ( shares him with her twin brother Ryan)- has visions of the future but his ability is limited.

**Aki**

Species: pikachu

Family: Pikachu and Storm- parents, Taran, thora, Electra and Zapps- siblings,

Description: smaller than a regular pikachu. Half her tail was crushed and bitten off when she was little.

Personality: Fidgety- won't really stay still. She was the smallest of her litter.**spoiler ** ; lost her tail and evolved to save derek's life during that incident when he was young. due to that incident she isn't that good with electrical attacks and beats herself up about it. Her parents are cautious about letting her out into the real world. She can't use Volt Tackle... not yet

**Hunter j ( aka J)**

Species : human

Age: around 55-60

Job : bounty hunter - villain of the Fic

Description: tall willowy woman with cold ice blue eyes and silver hair sprinkled with gray. Wears a dark leather suit and dark gloves

Personality: hunter J , or just J, is as cruel and malicious as you can get. She's a ice cold hearted who doesn't give a lick about other humans/ Pokemon and only cares about money. She is a ruthless evil bounty hunter who will use every trick in the book to capture valuable and rare Pokemon for either her clients or to sell on the black market. Believes Pokemon are objects used for money and power. Spoiler: Wants revenge on ash and her current employer wants payback on both him and misty. thought to have died when her ship flooded during the red chain incident in sinoh but survived albeit with memory loss for a while

j's Pokemon:

Dark dragonite/- her utterly black evil dragon. It has been genetically modified to have stronger attacks and strength in addition to having its heart and emotions locked away. It will follow its masters orders to the letter

** spoiler** ;Ariapion- a deadly ariados and drapion hybrid. It's spider like body is comprised of countless red to lavender segments with black stripes ending in a spilt tail with two stingers. Four yellow lavender banded legs come out of each side as well as four segmented legs with pointed ties. In addition it has a set of powerful drapion claws on each side that can stretch . It's eyes are a slanted shape with blue upper portions. Fang like features appear from its mouth which is full of razor sharp mandibles. It has a white horn and ariados legs in the back

Ariados- hers is bigger that a normal one

Kadabra

**Made up/ modified attacks in the Fic:**

Acid bomb- the user fires a volley of multiple hard purple balls at the foe.

Iron Paw: a modified version of Iron Tail. The user uses their paws instead of their tail

Thunder Fang- an electrical attack that packs a wallop. Can be very, very harmful to humans

** spoiler** Acidic Strike- a highly poisonous move used by Ariapion. Ariapion spits a huge spray of dark acid at the foe. Next its tail stingers glow purple and it slashes the foe hard. Stingers cut right through the skin and poison the foe on contact- causing immense pain. If not treated stat the victim will die in twenty-five minutes. An antidote for this attack is very rare.

Thunder Kick: The user's foot glows white and delivers a powerful kick with electric bite

Volt tackle: the Pichu line's special move. Takes extreme focus and energy as well as lots of practice in order to learn it . Hence why Pikachu hasn't taught Aki. The user runs at the opponent with its body surrounded by golden electricity, then tackles the opponent. While covered in electricity, the user's body looks black and white.

Mimic-in this fic it is more powerful than the original attack

Refresh: this recovery move can be used on humans but it is not as effective.

** spoiler** Acid Claw: the user's claws glow with a pulsing purple hue. If it strikes a building structure it can instantly rot the framework in a matter of minutes

Shock Wave- a powerful electric attack that never misses- A blast of blue electricity hits the foe. Has the possibility of overloading an electric type making them really sick and killing them.

Electro Lariat- the foe snags the foe in a coil of electrified string shot. Lifts the trapped foe into the air and swings them around faster each time. As it swings the foe around the shocks get stronger. May cause dizziness


	9. shocking revelation

Shocking revelation by wildcroconaw

Plot: if I had the rights to Pokemon (not just my three OCs in this chapter) I would have my two-part fanfic become a real movie. Alas that can't happen -rats!. Notes: _Italics_ are thoughts. () Is translated Pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. There is a line similar to one in 'spy kids 2' film a line that is similar to one in " kung fu panda 2". I couldn't resist and they fit the scenes. Sharp eyed readers of my story P2K II: Lawrence's revenge will notice a little reference. the ariapion is MINE! Enjoy!

Xchapter begins belowX

"Oh aki" I was stunned. She was panting slowly and I saw the electrical burn marks as well as cuts and countless bruises on her pelt. There some blue patches on her fur and the cut from the Iron tail attack on her side looked even worse now. There was a nick in one of her ears and one of her eyes was swollen and purple. She was battered badly- even her half tail had taken a beating. Looking at her, I was surprised to see that even after being frozen, massively shocked and pretty much beaten to a pulp by Dark Dragonite, she was still able to get up.

Storm's mouth dropped in a perfect o-shape.. ( my poor baby)

"How can that runt still be alive? It's more stubborn that I thought if it won't be killed" J sneered.

" Family trait" Dad muttered.

(You're... wrong... to think. that) she slowly said.

J looked over at aki and then at her evil dragon. "What's it squeaking about ? "

The creature glared at aki as she spoke- translating.

(You're wrong about mom and me... Pokemon are not just to gain fortune, we have feelings too. We are creatures who can feel and hurt as much as humans. We... are not tools for getting money or trophies. Some of us may be different but are unique in other ways. Like mom-she can't use electricity but she has her own special talents. Even a magicarp deserves love and respect for with out a trainer's love and kindness they will never evolve into a ferocious, terrifying Gyarados. With a few exceptions we don't care for greed or for power) she narrowed her eyes at Dark Dragonite at the word 'exceptions' (humans... and Pokemon have to have a mutual respect... in order to live together.) I felt tears roll down my face as she spoke. _That's it Aki! You're doing great you tell her the truth! _She looked at J (you are as evil a human as anything. You ... stole my mom and her friend... beat them-)

" Really badly" dad muttered glancing at his wounds and storm gave a shiver of agreement.

Aki continued, her voice a bit stronger now (try to t-trick Misty into coming. You had that creature beat me up badly. Ash told me how- how in the past you ordered one of your p-Pokemon to crush him. You probably have done more cruel things to pokemon that i can't even name or imagine. There is only so much I can take and I've had it up to here with you! Let us go or-or else)

For a half a minute I thought her words would melt J's cold heart. _Please listen to Aki's words. Please let us go . _But then she screamed "Dark Dragonite, use Blizzard and Icy Wind on that pathetic foolish runt! Give it everything you've got "

"Dodge it!"

(How many times do I have to try to kill the same stinking mouse) it rumbled as Aki nimbly dodged the attacks ...until an Icy Wind attack caught her off guard. The cold blast of wind pushed her back a couple of feet.

(Not... enough. times) she gritted her teeth and retaliated back with her attacks

"go aki! show that dragon whose boss! give 'em all you got!"

(i'm trying the best i - ) her words were cut short as the evil dragon used Comet Punch on her. I winced as she took the hits

( this is too easy. you're like a pathetic weak cloud) Dark Dragonite rumbled as it's tail glowed an eerie silver. _oh no! not again! what can i do to help her? think, Derek! get your brain out of this state of shock! -_ "Wait a minute! shock ! thats it!" Summoning what courage I had left I shouted, " aki ! Give that thing a shocking kick of reality ! Thunder kick the field!"

her foot glowed a pale yellow. (this 'pathetic cloud' is gonna bring on the thunder !) she jumped in the air- missing the silver glowing tail by inches and smashed she smashed the ice field with the glowing foot. The Thunder Kick ended up shocking the Dragonite who was still on the field. It staggered forwards as backwards for a few minutes as if dazed and then resumed attacking he.

I turned my gaze to dad "what do I do? That thing is going to cream her!"

"I don't know, son. You just have put your trust in her." He replied . _But what if I'm sentencing her to death? I mean she looks wiped out_

Her fur was puffing up. She kept on trying to ram into the dragon's belly but got knocked back by its wings and tail. She was pretty stubborn- every time she got struck down by the dragon she would get right back up and attack it right back. There was a faint glow to her body. Dad's jaw dropped. "Holy Arceus. I think I know what she's doing"

"What?"

(I don't see how it's possible but she's trying) Storm added (and I believe succeeding)

"What? What's she trying to do?"

"Just watch, Derek " he said as Aki rammed into the dragon only to be knocked away by an icy wind attack.

I observed that each time she tried it, her body started to glow lightly with golden electricity, although she was being bombarded with icy wind, Wing attack, Gusts and Twisters. It hit me as the light got big enough to cover her. _How? It-it can't be _"Holy Miltank! Aki is trying to use... "

(V-volt tackle) storm ended with awe.

This time, the golden light covered her entire body and there was a look of pure determination in her eyes. J and I commanded at once: "Finish it off! Rock tomb that thing "

"I'd never thought i'd say this but... aki use your V-Volt Tackle on it!" The name felt really weird to say. _I wonder what Pikachu would say if he saw this._

(You're mine mouse! Dodge this) The Dragonite stomped on the floor as Aki, her body looking black and white, bolted across it, expertly avoiding the sharp rocks that kept on coming out of the floor. (Stay still so I kill you)

(I don't think so. Try to dodge this!) She hit it right in the stomach. It howled in pain and stumbled back a few feet. Even when she was taking the recoil damage she looked pretty determined on bringing that Dragonite down. She did it twice more but then as she was taking the recoil damage I saw the dragon trip her with a tail whip.

As she skidded across the floor dad, storm and I saw it fly over and grab her tightly with its claws. It flew up to the ceiling and then straight down, slamming her into the floor. As she hit the floor I cowered. _Oooooh that Seismic Toss is going to hurt._

(Fight me like ...a Pokemon) She cried feebly as she slipped on the wet floor.

The creature ignored her as it put one massive foot over her body to prevent any escape. It wore a triumphant look on its smug face, as did its master. ( game over rat ). She closed her eyes.

"No! " I screamed. "Aki! Aki! Wake up!" But she didn't respond. _Ho-Oh, anyone please help her_

Storm was struggling in dad's arms. (Let me at it Ash! let me at it! I'll slash it to shreds! I'll-)

He nodded fearfully. "it would just beat you the same way as her"

J smiled cruelly. "that mouse is beaten. I'll give you - it put up a good fight but it's finished. " I wanted to smack the smug look off her face as she addressed us. "I told you before, brats, nothing can beat Dark Dragonite. You thought that weakling could have enough power? Ha! That creature is nothing but a fool. All this talk about love and respect" She spat on the floor . "Any last words wimps " J looked at us then at Aki. "I dispose of this creature

"Not any I can say in front of my son" Dad replied

(Not to mention my daughter .) Storm muttered. Loudly she proclaimed (But I will say this: You're the evilest human I have ever-oh my arceus ) her 'oh my arceus ' was seeing aki open her eyes._ She's alive! but i thought she was a goner _I saw a persistent look in them and she was smiling. _. Why is she smiling? She's going to be crushed_

(I have ... some words for you: EAT... MY... THUNDER ATTACK YOU TOTAL FOOL! !) She shouted the last part as loud as she could as she unleashed an enormous Thunder attack from underneath the creature's foot. _No freaking way! _I thought, my mouth open, _first Volt Tackle and now Thunder?_ It screamed as the attack went on. She went on for about ten or fifteen minutes and stopped. The creature removed its foot from her body – it's body covered in electrical burn marks, smelling strongly of signed scales . The mouse dashed over to us as the dazed dragon wobbled around before hitting the floor with a piercing THUD- totally knocked out.

"WHAT? How could my superior dragon lose? How could this happen... " J yammered on but we took no notice of her.

(The bigger and more arrogant they are... the harder they fall) Aki panted as I bent down and hugged her.

"That was- how'd you... I thought you were ... that was V-volt tackle... I thought it took... you used thunder- how did -" I couldn't get the words right on my tongue.

She licked my cheek. (Derek, do an injured mouse a favor and shut up for a minute) she said, not unkindly.

I looked up and saw that Storm had tears down her face- I didn't blame her. She jumped down and started licking her daughter's fur (oh, my baby. Oh aki oh aki) she murmured into her fur . Then she raised her head and her voice tone changed in to one I recognized as a combination of worried/ terrified/ relieved mother (Aki sparka thorina 'Chu... Don't you ever do that to me again! I thought I lost you)

( mom. I'm fine. I'm fine I'm alive anyways. It'll take a lot... more than that thing... to take me out...) Aki slowly caught her breath. (Besides. with great power come a great need... to protect)

"What do you mean great power? "

Dad looked down at her. "Are you saying someone gave you the energy to do Volt Tackle? Thunder?"

She nodded. (Like a legendary?) Storm asked as she jumped out of dad's arms onto the floor to lick her daughter's fur.

(Yes)

"Wait a minute. I did -"

"Enjoying your little reunion, brats? Because it won't last " J's cold voice sliced through my voice and we looked at her. She had a crazed look in her eyes and had an enlarged pokeball in one hand-she had recalled the fainted dragon. "You either leave here with me or not at all." I gulped.

"But Derek and Aki defeated that Dragonite of yours J. " Dad pointed out. "And by rules-"

She waved her free hand. "And since when have I ever cared about the rules, twerp?"

Dad became rigid at her last word. Storm went about foot in front of me (I'll face-) she winced due to her injuries and fell to the floor in a heap.

Aki leapt over to her mother. (Mom!) She carefully nudged her to her paws. (You can't battle. You're hurt)

(But you're tired from fighting... that monstrosity) I observed that Storm didn't even call it a pokemon.

(I can still... battle)

"She's right" I carefully picked Storm up and handed her back to Dad. "Leave this to us" I gave them a –we-know-what-we're-doing grin.

Dad opened his mouth but Storm spoke up as if she knew what he had been about to say (I'm positive they can beat her they have their father's blood in them.)

He closed his mouth as Aki and I looked back at J as the mouse stepped forward. "We're ready "

"It's your funeral, brat. At least this will "You thought Dark Dragonite was tough? This one's in a whole different class! Go! " She threw the pokeball into the air. It opened in mid-air and a red ball of energy came out.

As it formed the pokemon, Aki and I jumped. "What is that?

(How can th-that creature even be a pokemon?) Aki gaped at the new foe as the pokeball flew back to J's hand.

(How can th-that creature even be a pokemon?) Aki gaped at the new foe as the pokeball flew back to J's hand.

It was a mixture of Ariados and Drapion- two different pokemon. Its body was made of countless red-to-lavender body segments with black stripes ending with a tail with two stingers. Four yellow lavender striped legs came out of its side along with four segmented legs with pointed toes. Its eyes were pointed, with blue-colored upper parts. Large, sharp fang like white-colored features extending from its mouth. A sharp white horn was on the top of its head. Two huge sets of super strong Drapion claws on each side glinted. Two Ariados legs were in back along two tails with poisonous stingers. "Meet my Ariapion" J said with the air of a trainer introducing a contest-winning Delcatty. Without missing a beat she yelled, "shadow ball!"

A huge black ball of energy appeared in its mouth and it fired it right at aki. I jumped back a few feet. "Aki, double team and then headbutt" I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could. The attack missed her by inches. She tried to use Headbutt but it wasn't effective because the Ariados/ Drapion mixture used Harden.

(owww)

"Night Shade!" the attack caught aki off guard and threw her into a wall. She countered with a weak thunderbolt. I could tell she was tiring out.

J called for another volley of shadow ball attacks. "use your light screen to deflect them!"

(I'll... do... my best) she panted. She put her front paws in front of her and a clear glass box appeared around her. The attack bounced off but left little cracks in the glass.

"you foolish boy! You think you can hide your mouse in that safety box forever! Ha! Focus Blast!"

A big ball of blue energy appeared in the ariapion's claws . It thrust it at Aki and it collided with the light screen. It continued to send more shadow balls and even hit the reflect attack with some acid attacks. About ten minutes later even more cracked appeared. There was a bit of a struggle but the glass spalled apart and the sphere of energy broke through.

"AKIIII! " I yelled as she was flung across the room for the umpteenth time that day. She fell into a heap. "are you okay?"

she got up and slowly nodded. (I'm ... good)

" Electro Lariat!" J commanded the hybrid. _Electro Lariat? That's not any attack I know of._

(Huh? What's-) Aki was cut off as the Ariapion sent out a massive strong String Shot That was glowing a bright yellow towards her. The same yellow color as _- .Oh no!_

"dodge that string shot! It's electrified !" I warned her . She tried to dodge it but the attack lunged right at her and ensnared her! She screamed as it ensnared her and shocked her badly. But she couldn't even squirm her way out- it was too strong tight. Before I could think, the hybrid lifted Aki off the ground and started swinging her in a circle above our heads- shocking her harder as it did. Faster and faster she went and more and more she was shocked until she was just a yellow blur.

(let me go, you . freak) she yelped . The ariapion said nothing but increased the voltage through the electric coils. J said nothing but continued to watch her struggle as if it were an interesting game.

(we've got to do something) Storm commented, shuddering

"What can we do" dad replied. I understood their feeling of loss and hopelessness. Aki was letting out painful whimpers and we couldn't do anything but watch, like a bunch of Metapods , and see her get injured.

I wished with all my heart that there were some way I could help. My eyes were getting dizzy while I felt ill watching. "Please let her go! She doesn't deserve this "

"do you forfeit?" J's ice blue eyes gleamed. "it will make things ever so much easier for me and for you if you do

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. what do we do now?

Trapped! By Wildcroconaw

Plot: for the billionth I don't own pokemon -! Keep your hands off Aki, Derek, Ariapion, Jaden and storm! Notes **{}** have translated serpent-tongue in them. _Italics _are thoughts. () Is translated pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. There's a line that's similar to from the "the lion king", two line i took from the second lion king and one very like one in megamind . can you find them ? enjoy !

the world seemed to go silent. I heard a cry in the air from aki (no! don't do it! you told dad you'd save mom and ash. J won't be easy on any of us . that's a bunch of -)

(shut up you rodent) Ariapion squeezed her tighter with the string shot and I heard her wince in pain. I looked behind my shoulder at dad and storm and then at my shoes. There was no way that I would surrender to this monstrous inhumane beast of a kidnapper- not after what I'd seen and heard. I would rather be fed to a ravenous pack of Sharpedos and Tentacruels with my arms tied than admit defeat. _I made a promise to mom and pikachu and I don't intend on breaking it._

I stared directly at J. "N-not while there's blood in my body. I don't know what you have planed but I'm going to stop you"

She smiled and chuckled ._. _" I can arrange foolish boy._,_. "Unwind it!" The creature gave aki one last spin in the air. As it did it unwound the String Shot coils around her. She flew through the air and slammed into the ground.

I rushed over to her. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at me a bit unsteadily (how come there's... five of you) she tried to get up but collapsed

"Ak, you put up a great fight. You did your best"

"She's lost a lot of energy" dad called. "I don't know how much longer she can last." I knew he was right- she was panting hard. She had been really brave to stand up to the Dragonite, J AND use those two attacks for the first time. But now it was taking a toll.

"That creature is pretty much finished off. Why don't you just give up and surrender " J looked at me _over my dead body ._

I spat on the floor. " Here's a better idea : Why don't you and that thing go f- YIPES" a stream of acid flew over my head- luckily I ducked as soon as I saw it come out of the Ariapion's jaws.

I looked up at Storm- she had gone pale and her eyes were wide. I knew that facial expression-she read the opponent's mind and knew what was next. She mouthed the words (thunder fang)

I returned my gaze to Aki. she tried get up as best she could but fell back down - she was too weak. But I saw the evil hybrid's fangs glow with a powerful yellow light as it rushed right at us.

Aki gasped as the creature came right at us (oh Arceus save us) she shuddered

I looked at the Ariapion closing in on us. I lowered my voice. "Aki, I'm gonna distract that thing so you can run"

(I'll try) She nodded-it was the only option. _Please let this work_

I got up and started. "Hey ugly! why don't you pick on some one your own size!"

. It turned around right as it reached aki and looked at me- it's fangs back to normal ( like you?)

it headed towards me- I jumped out of the way. "oops. I mean I'm more of a match for you . I mean why take out a pikachu when a human is more suited to your needs " I said as I dodged the shadow balls and night shades it threw at me..-Out of the corner of my vision I saw Aki dash out of sight and over to dad.

"hey ugly! Over here" I feinted to the right at then the left- wasn't easy with all the holes in the floor . "no I'm over here" I zigzagged across the room and rammed into it- boy did that hurt- and kicked it .it swiped me with the back side of it's claws. it ripped right through my shirt to my side. It hurt badly but I ignored the pain. "y-you're not that ...smart for... a hy-hybrid are you?"

it glared at me (not smart? Not smart! What do you mean brat!) it lunged at me again but I rolled out of the way instead.

"why are you toying with me? I mean aren't you the least bit tired from fighting my pikachu? Y-you must be. That l-larriat move must have taken a lot out of you" I sidestepped out of aki and dad's way as the loathsome creature followed me.

it reached for me (I like to play with my prey before killing it)

_think, der, think. _It was harder to evade it now- it matched my every move.. "wh-what prey? I bet all your food runs away from you. you're so ugly you make a Muk's backside seems lovable. You stand out too much-you're so bloody repulsive that you make a grimer seem clean."

I was sweating now I fell into one of the craters the Dragonite made and scooted out of it as fast as I could but it followed me. (stand still so I can kill you ) it hissed as it raised it's fangs. I moved out of the way and the deadly fangs got stuck in the floor.

"uh, I don't think so. Besides I'm just a kid. Y-you wouldn't want m-my death on your claws? It would mess up your soul. you do have a soul somewhere in that cold hearted evil body? " it roared in anger as it freed it's fangs from the floor. "I take that as a no." i gulped

" get that brat ariapion! BRING HIM OVER TO ME ALIVE! I WANT TO SEE THE LIFE GO OUT OF HIS EYES MYSELF! " J screamed at the top of her lungs. " USE ALL YOU'VE GOT!"

(DIE HUMAN!) It roared as it rushed toward me, firing a volley of Pin Missles from its claws and tails.

"Oh fudge" I ducked as the first wave of the attack missed me by inches but the next wave made marks in my face and arms.

"What's your plan?" I heard dad's voice as I narrowly escaped a stream of black acid

"Uh, it mostly involves not dying" I said as barely dodged a Night Shade attack.

(Good plan I like that plan) aki gasped, (watch out!)

"URRRK" a huge ball of Night Shade hit me in the stomach and made me crash to the floor. Unfortunately it was right where there were still some sharp icicles.

"You okay, ?" dad sounded concerned. "That looked like it hurt"

I groaned as I got up. The tumble had taken a toll- my jeans were ripped & my knees were bruised. I also felt something wet on my cheek so i pressed my fingers to it for a second and then looked at it. it was red. . But the cuts didn't seem like anything serious. "I'm fine, dad. i just took a bad fall." _The important thing is making that thing tire out and not to be killed. _

"Acid bomb!" J yelled. I cringed as the Ariapion opened its maw and fired multiple hard purple balls at me. I shielded myself from them with my backpack but I felt some of the bombs hit my jeans and melt the material

"Oh come on!" I looked at the pack when the attack ended. The acid had eaten through the straps and made a lot of smoking holes in the fabric. "That was my favorite rucksack!" I punted the ruined pack to dad.

I ran at it but slipped and fell on my back. As I got up I felt an explosion of pain came from my legs as a huge blast of electricity from the creature's fangs hit them. I couldn't help it- I shouted in agony as the Thunder Fang. struck . " YYEEEEEOOOOOWWWW!"

"that's it , ariapion! Paralyze that boy's legs so he can't move" J encouraged it. the attack went on for seven minutes- each one more painful than the last minute. I couldn't feel my legs at all- they were numb from the attack. It slashed my right leg with its back legs-i felt something wet trickle down and form a red puddle on the floor . My eyes were watering at the pain. I tried to move away but it sunk its fangs into my legs!

I howled in pain again . It drew blood as it drained my blood and energy. I felt weaker and couldn't even fight back "Leave him alone ... please!" dad begged.

It unhooked its red fangs from my skin. Before I had a moment its claws wrapped around me. They lifted me into the air to face J and squeezed me tight. I couldn't move much less breath. "Let... me Go" I tried to escape but it was useless.

She looked me in the eyes-she was wild-eyed and loco. "Not a chance. I'm going to make you pay for having that runt defeat my Dark ragonite and trying to save him" she flicked her gaze to dad. "Then I'll deal with you. " She cackled . "it's over brat! I have dreamed of nothing else for years!"

(boy does she need a hobby) aki muttered.

either J didn't hear that or she wasn't listening as she went on. "you messed up my plans too many times in the past and ruined my life. now it's time to ruin yours" I shivered. "what better way to make you suffer then by watching your boy die in front of you ? ariapion Crush him!"

The claws started squeezing me even tighter now. I felt a pain in my ribs as the claws ripped through my shirt and began crushing my ribs. I had to think of something so I wouldn't get killed. I felt my ribs burn. "Why... do you want to make... my parents suffer anyways?"

"Because he got in my way. I lost out on a lot good money because of him" _You probably deserved it. probably stole pokemon for some evil purpose and he stopped you. this is dad, of course _."So... you never met ...mom" I asked as causally as I could as the claws jutted into my rib cage.

"No but my client has" she grinned like a gengar. "He told me that his life's ambition was ruined because of them. He nearly got his sweet revenge on them a few years ago too. You were there too boy" _huh? _ ." He was so close but that flawed pipsqueak foiled him "

Aki's fur bristled at this insult. "And a useless sacrifice by a weak butterfree-"

Dad froze . his eyes darkened as they narrowed - apparently she touched a sore spot. "His sacrifice wasn't useless J! " he yelled anger rising. "Face me yourself or are you too much of a coward"

"Don't call me a coward! She snarled as she rounded on him. " What do you want brat? You have nothing left-Your kid is as good as dead. Those mice are wiped. You wish to give up? I'll let him go if you do. But there is still the matter of you handing over all your precious rare pokemon starting with that- "

" That's where you're wrong- you forgot about something" He looked at her, a determined look in his eyes, and then at Aki and Storm- I saw the empty super potion spray bottle at his feet. Aki's cuts were semi healed and so were some of Storms. "Aki, Spark attack! Storm, Screech attack on the Ariapion and then try a spark attack "

(I'll try my best) she whispered

(You got it!) Aki let out a bolt of electricity first at J, as Storm unleashed a Screech attack at ariapion. when that didn't work she mustered up a Spark attack. The attacks did the trick. it screamed in pain and dropped me to the ground.

"Great job " dad complimented.

I tried to run away but the paralysis from the Thunder fang, the loss of blood and the lack of energy stopped me. (Derek, watch out!) Aki and Storm alerted me but it was too late.

The Ariapion lunged at me and kicked me to the nearest wall. I groaned as I hit the wall . dad yelled my name. i tried to get up but the human created hybrid used A thick Spider Web net to cover my entire body asides from my head. (You thought it be that easy to escape?) It hissed.

"Uh yeah." I glanced at J as I struggled against my bonds. "You ...won't get away with this"

She rolled her ice blue eyes. "And whose going to know about what happened ? Oh wait, just that scrawny weak woman who tried stopping me the other night. But by the time she remembers what happened or reads that note i left it will be too late for her . "

Dad was holding his comment back- there was a deep fire burning in his eyes.. "My mom's not scrawny nor weak!" I countered "and you're wrong. I showed that note to my best friends- one of which is the kid of a cop" I semi-fibbed.

She was seething with rage. "Silence brat! unless you want to die right now."

"Bite ...me." Dad let out a little bit of a groan-sometimes my mouth got me into trouble.

Ariapion looked at me eagerly (I already did. Your blood is so delicious)

I was wrapped up so close I couldn't move. J glared over at me over the Ariapion. "You know too much brat. I hate to have Ariapion kill you. No. I don't. You would blab out. Any final words before you die?"

"Boil your head in a huge vat of Tamato berry juice... then go to hell" I spat in the hybrid's face.

"Ariapion, silence that mouth by disposing of him with your tails!"

It raised it's glowing silver tails into the air. As if in slow motion I saw them come through the air. Dad, Storm and Aki's screams were muffled. I was a total goner. As the Ariapion's tails got closer to my throat I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want them to see this but I heard their cries. But because of the stupid Spider Web cocoon around my body I was stuck- literally and figuratively. _Please Arceus, please don't let me die. Please oh please_

Just as the deadly stinger hovered an inch above my throat, the door encased in ice burst open & the ice shattered. I saw a flamethrower above my head hit the creature's tails. Ariapion let out a screech of pain as the attack struck. it ended the attack and removed its stinger from my personal space.

i let out a long breath of relief . _That was way to close for my liking._

A familiar, confident human voice screamed in serpent-speak. "Szatchss n'yas portisssya h'yahss mienss sya ya'rasaaah hoy' vyassa hasaa'nyet! " [Leave him alone, you filthy abomination or pay the price] '

I saw a human figure in the door way with a seviper next to to it . _It' couldn't be... _"Jaden? Is that you? "

"Get 'em with your acid!" J yelled.

"Sev! Protect !" A green forcefield appeared over them just as the Ariapion sprayed a think stream of acid at them. The poison attack disappeared the moment it hit the force field .

"nice... job" I winced from the pain.

(Thankssss. Now to teach thisssss thing a lessssson ) Severus waved his tail and the barrier disappeared. As Jaden somersaulted out of the way He slammed into the hybrid countless times , making it go away from me. each time the snake attacked he got stronger. He smacked it with a silver tail all the way to the other side of the room.

(never under essstimate a pure poisssson type'sss power) he hissed

TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Jaden to the rescue!

: Jaden to the rescue! By wildcroconaw

Plot: The day that Hollywood stops making unnecessary sequels like smurfs 2, night at the museum 3 and resident evil 6 is the day I own the rights to these characters not just my OCs. Sadly that won't happen. Author's Notes: {} have translated serpent-tongue in them. Italics are thoughts. () Is translated pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. There is a slight nod to neil gaiman's the graveyard book if you look very closely. Enjoy!

Recap of chapters 5-8: after finding out his dad and pikachu's mate storm had been kidnapped, Derek, storm's daughter Aki and his friend Jaden went to find them. After a pair of glowing knocked out Jaden Dustox Derek and aki were taken to an old dilapidated building in the middle of the Overgrown Forest. Not only did they discover their extremely injured parents but also they learned who the kidnapper was. Hunter J, aka J has returned seemingly from the dead to settle her old score with Ash. Her Dark Dragonite nearly killed Aki, who tried her hardest to stand up to it, with its attacks. The tides turned when she used Volt Tackle & Thunder for the first time. Despite their best efforts they were unable to defeat J's Ariapion- a deadly hybrid of Drapion and Ariados. . The creature was about to kill Derek- whom it had injured and had trapped in a thick Spider web net- with it's tails when Severus, the Seviper of Jaden, Derek's best friend deflected the attack

Severus threw daggers at J as he slithered over to Jaden. "Let them go" Jaden told her, glaring at her.

"Who are you? " She said loudly.

(Your worsssst nightmare) Sev flicked his tongue in anger and then nudged Jaden, who seemed to be frozen with fear. He was looking at the ariapion a look of fear on his face.

He blinked then regained his form. He took a deep breath. "What my Seviper said. We're your worst nightmare. Let them go free ... or -or face the consequences"

She scoffed. " Ha! I'm not scared of you! And what if I don't, little boy? Going to run away to the police? You won't make it out of here alive .If you tell the authorities on what you saw... then " she looked over at dad and me drawing a finger across her throat. I gulped.

"No- I'm not g-going to run. I'm here to stop you and rescue my f-friends"

(Ssssame here) Severus added.

She smirked. "You and what army? That serpent?"

(I will feast on your livers after I grind you to the ground!) The ariapion bellowed (you can't defeat me!)

Severus locked eyes with the hybrid as he flicked his tail as if challenging the creature. (Oh yeah! We'll ssssee about that. )

J looked over at him carefully. " You look familiar boy. Have I stolen from you before?

"Like heck!" he spat on the floor. " I make it a point never to deal with evil 'hsiya'ah' like yourself" he replied using the serpent-tongue term for a female arcanine.

Her eyes burned with hatred. I don't think she understood serpent-tongue but got the gist of what he said. "That remark is going to cause you to be in lots of trouble brat!"

His eyes gleamed. " Did you say trouble?"

Severus stood in front of him (if ssssooo then let'ssssss make it double_) _

_For the love of Mew Jaden! . Do you want to be killed?_ "Oh brother" dad muttered.

"To protect the world from devastation. To ignite the blights in the nation- no that's not right. To alight the grass with condensation?"

I wanted to yell 'shut up Jaden! We're are ready in trouble'

The black large snake pokemon shook his head. (that dosssent sssseeem right either. )

" blast it! I wish I remembered the old motto. I should have asked meowth-"

J's eyes lit up at the words 'meowth' and "motto" . " a meowth you say? A motto? There were some bumbling complete imbeciles I ran into about the same time I ran into him "- her eyes glanced over at dad for a few seconds. She seemed to pierce him with her glare. " They had a talking meowth that I thought valuable so naturally I took it. Of course those ignoramus dolts rescued it. I met those morons a few times more." Jaden's eyes narrowed at each insult J made to his parents and he balled his hands into fists. Severus hissed but she ignored him. "I wonder if those two dunderheads actually killed themselves in some plan that they screwed up on their own. If they are then I can find that meowth-"

Jaden's eyes were full of a burning fire- not unlike the one dad displayed- as he shouted, "you won't touch him or insult my- " he caught himself- "them again!" he looked down at the snake pokemon "get her Sev"

"Get the snake! Sludge!"

Like a blackish yellow blur the snake lunged at the man-created pokemon, who slid out of the way of the creature and blocked the attack with his partially red-colored, bladelike tail.

(Fool. Don't you know poisssson movesssss don't work on me) he opened his mouth and let out a thick cloud of smoke, which covered the room. Then I heard shouts from J and Jaden commanding the two pokemon, the Seviper's tail slashing and his taunts and the ariapion trying to strike back.

"Psst Derek" I looked up and saw Jaden, a small facemask in his hands.

"Hey... man" I coughed. "How did you... find me?"

"I had some help." He looked me over. " Dude you look like you had a fight with a Cacturne and Victreebel and lost"

"Gee, thanks" I rolled my eyes. "Can you help me out of this web? "

(INCOMING!) Severus yelled as he slid next to us. (That thing'ssss tough to beat) he paused to catch his breath-

" You're doing great pal" Jaden patted the pokemon's head "try using your, rage and iron tail on that thing –"

"It's called an ariapion- ugh, " I groaned from the pain.

(Whatever it issss it's becoming a real pain in my tail) the Seviper said.

"Do your best"

(I'll try Jaden) he flicked his tongue out (that woman will pay) his whole body glowed red and he shot out into the haze center of the room.

" What are we gonna do? Sooner or later his Rage attack boost is going to end. He's going to need help plus I need to get free. How are we going -"

"manage that?" Jaden ended with a smirk. " Oh I have a way to uh heat up the match"

"How are you gonna do tha..." I trailed off as Jaden; still smiling reached into his inner vest pocket, brought out a small pokeball and maximized it. My jaw dropped – I knew that dusty battered old pokéball and more specifically who its occupant was. "How did you- where did you get that? Is that-"

He nodded and then loudly yelled " great work Severus! Now show whose bos. Slamming rock smash!" Then he lowered his voice. "I'm a kid of ex- rockets- I picked up some habits from my parents. " He threw the pokeball on the ground where it split in two.

I watched as the energy inside the ball came out and formed into a small, bright orange and black striped female dog with a short rounded muzzle, rounded ears-one of which had a small v shaped nick in it and a tiny fluffy tail. She had shiny black eyes and a tuft of her on the top of her head. Her belly, tuft of fur on her head and tail were all cream colored. She shook her head and blinked around as the ball flew back to jaden's hand that minimized it and put it away. He turned his attention to the battle and gave another loud shout of " keep it up Sev! Get that thing with your dark pulse and whatever attack you can think of "

I looked over at the growlithe lovingly. "Oh Flamie ... can you use. A light fire fang on this web to free me?" I asked over the shouts of the battle.

She nodded as she opened her jaws wide and a few seconds later light red orange- flames appeared in them. She bit down on the web. She had to repeat the attack three times until I was free. . But I still couldn't move- I felt as weak as a newborn Skitty kitten. Jaden turned around and helped me to my knees.

I felt something warm and wet slobber over me. I felt Flamie's soft fur nuzzle me as she licked me all over- my face, my hands even my injuries. I smiled through tears as I hugged her- her paws on my knees "good growlithe. You're a good, good girl" at the moment nothing- not the fact that the smoke was neither thining nor anything about the danger we were in. I was just a boy with his faithful growlithe.

(You're hurt) she observed.

I winced. "It's ... nothing"

(Where are we?) She whimpered- the smoke was thin enough to see the battered field. Massive holes in the ground, blood and fur littered the ground so much it looked like a war zone.

"Long story short flame. Basically we're trapped with no way out with a mad woman," I told her. Jerking my head at J. "And we need to get out of here with Aki, dad and storm" I looked at them.

(That's your dad?)She followed my gaze a brief moment. (The injured human?)

I nodded. "Y-yeah. "

(He looks just like you. how are we going to save-)

(WATCH OUT!) Severus was flung back to us, hit the wall and fell to the floor. _Ouch! That's gotta hurt_

Jaden rushed to the injured snake's side " what happened?"

His pokemon looked at him a bit unsteadily .(sssstupid mimic and mirror move. Ssssomehow thosssse attackssss were much more powerful than they should be)

"No clue Flamie. But first we have to stop ...her " Jaden glared across the room at J. There was, fierce look in my friend's eyes- he didn't forgive her for the insults about his parents.

" Well brats" J looked at us- a smile on her face that chilled me. "So you got free with a dog. Big deal. " She addressed me. " But you're not getting away easily. What's your choice- will you surrender? Then I won't hurt you much. There is the matter of- "

Flamie took her paws off my knees and went forward a few feet, pawing at the beaten floor. I bent up, put on my hat and looked J right in the eyes. "I've had just about enough of you! I don't think you are even human! A human wouldn't put a family through this pain and suffering! a human wouldn't harm my dad and storm like you did-"

( you tell her derek) storm shouted. the ariapion hissed and clinked its claws at her as if to say, shut up or once i'm done with him you're next.

I continued. " no human would ever do that to a poor disabled pikachu! No human I know of would do what you've done. You actually think I'm gonna surrender to you , after what I've witnessed? You kidnapped my dad, injured my mom and my family's pikachu. Insulted my parents. Nearly killed my own pikachu as well as me." my ribs and wounds were badly stinging but I did my best not to pay attention . "You think I'd give up after all that? you don't know me- derek Erikson ketchum well then. Here's my answer. " I turned my hat around backwards - dad's signature move and yelled, at the same time as Jaden. "Flamie i choose you! Aerial Ace!"

"Severus, dark pulse!"

Like a red-orange bolt of lightning the growlithe jumped in the air as she zoomed at the Ariados, her body surrounded in white streaks. Before the bug had a chance to attack Flamie tackled it at the same time that Severus used Dark Pulse on the ariapion? Both attacks pushed the foes back "whoo- hoo! Take that! J" I pumped my hands into the air. "This is gonna be way too easy!"

"Uh Der. I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you" Jaden pointed to the foes which managed to get up and looked angrier than ever. _For the love of Arceus what's its gonna take to defeat those pokemon_

J looked amused. "did you think I'd be beaten that easily?"

I felt my mouth dry up. I didn't know what to do.. "uh ... yes"

Jaden whispered to me- a bit too loudly , "any ideas on how to beat this toad" I shook my head

TO BE CONTINUED!


	12. the match heats up

The match heats up by WildCroconaw

Plot: heres aki with the disclaimer and chapter notes. Take it away aki

Aki: hi! All you have to remember are these simple words: wildcroconaw doesn't own Pokemon asides from Derek jaden me tha evil ariapion or me. Take any of us or flame her and it won't be a pretty sight. _Italics_ are thoughts. () Is translated pokemon speech while " " is humans talking. There are many hidden references- robin hood men in tights to the final harry potter book to mamma mia. Can you find them?. Okay enough of my rambling! On with the show!

* * *

J glanced to Jaden, Severus- who was flicking his tongue in agitation , flamie and me. " that's going to cost you twerps"

Jaden rolled his eyes and tried to stifle a yawn. " put it on our bill. " I added

" , that does it! Ariados, get that cur with a Night Shade! Ariapion Thunder fang that stupid snake!" J commanded "playtime's over! Don't ply nice" .

I shuddered at her last words . _Oh Tarous poo! What are we going to do? I mean there is only so much that Sev and Flamie can last against those things?._

"do something derek! Your growlithe is going to get squashed!" dad's voice brought me back .Thinking quickly I came up with a plan

" flamie, listen to me girl: Agility and then body slam that bug!" I kept my cool as Flamie easily dodged the attack and slammed into it- all forty-two pounds of her.

(YEEEEEOOOOW!)

"thatta girl!"

_(_Take this you overgrown spider) she yelled then she bit one of it's legs. It screeched in pain At the moment it felt like it was just J, Jaden and our pokemon in the room- not dad or storm, or Aki. The roar of battle lust swelled through my blood. I loved that feeling- I felt it during school battles and saw it in Mom and dad's eyes when they battled. I HAD to take her down because now I wasn't just fighting for fun or for acknowledgement. I was battling for my life as well as my family's.

"great job!" I exclaimed as Jaden eyed the Ariados/ Drapion mixture. " Severus, Double Team then secret power !" Within a second then were multiple serpents around it.

(I shall make a belt out of that snake!) Ariapion yelled as the copies stuck out their tongues at it. it fired a volley of electricity bolts from it's bloody fangs at the snake. The first few bolts missed but the third Thunder Fang strike hit him.

(yeeeow! ) he hissed in pain as the copies dissappered. The poison type froze and I saw sparks coming out of his skin- paralysis. (Sz'yet) he cursed

Jaden wasn't fazed. "Sev! Activate your Shed Skin ability!" _You gotta love Shed Skin. _I smirked.

( you got it!)

J looked shocked, "what the-" The Seviper's body glowed a pale white. The light disappeared as he wormed out of his skin, leaving a white outer shell on the floor. The new skin looked a bit softer than the one he just shed. Jaden, aki, dad, I all looked at each other nervously - we knew the new skin would be vulnerable until it hardened.

" Fools! Now that snake is weak! It can't attack without injuring its skin!" J cackled. "You're mine"

Jaden snapped his fingers. "Bugger. I forgot about that. How he protect himself while- OWW "

I elbowed him. " I have an idea" I noticed Flamie was still dealing with Ariados- she was putting up a good fight countering it's Bug Bite, Leech Life, and Fury Slash attacks with her Take Down, Ember, and Bite attacks. "Keep up the great job Flamie!" I called out. She let out a woof to let me know she heard me.

Severus' skin was about one-fourth hardened. He winked- we had to stall for time. "Wh-what are you planning on doing to us?" I asked as calmly as I could.

She narrowed her iceberg cold eyes at me. "Are you giving up so soon, brats? I knew you couldn't handle my ariapion. My employer doesn't have to know about you right away " I shivered at these words. " so I can have some fun first. Of course I'll make you pay for what you did to my beautiful Dark Dragonite. I'll get you - and your little pipsqueak of a pikachu too"

Aki hissed at her from where she was next to dad. (beautifull? That horrible creature! Lady, you must be completely off your rocker! It deserved what it got. And I'm no pipsqueak!)

J dismissed this and went on. "then i'll whip you until your your back is covered in burns like his" he looked at dad. "besides" she smiled, "there's someone who wants to see you again... assuming she remembered what happened"

Dad let out a little gasp. "you wouldn't dare hurt her J..."

"maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't" her gaze went back to me. "I seemed to recall when she was fighting me, she said some thing about ' the children' . you wouldn't happen to have siblings would you?

my mouth went as dry as a desert. I tried to speak but couldn't get the words to come out. _Bitch! Vile despicable Conniving evil sick witch! _Tons of not so kind descriptions for her filled my head.

"I take your silence as a yes. I bring you back home. all of you have a nice little reunion while you're tied up . Then things will start to really heat- "

"funny you mention fire. Villans who play with fire get burned" I let out a sharp whistle and saw a red- orange figure bolt across the floor. She stopped in front of me (you called?)

"Flamie! Use Safeguard on Sev and hurry!" She could sense our distress due to her keen nose. She leapt in front of Severus, her body glowing blue. A light blue forcefield covered the serpent and Jaden and I.

"Flamie, flamethrwer!" she unleashed a small stream of fire at J, who held up her left jacket covered sleeve as if to fend off the attack. she screamed at the attack hit her jacket and gloves. A not so lovely stench of burned rubber and flesh hit my nose

she looked up and screeched in pain. Parts of her leather jacket was burned and/or melted to her skin but she didn't seem to care. There were smoldering parts on her jacket and at least one or two figers on her left hand were burned

" that was your last mistake boy! now Ariapion finish them off with your Cross Poison! Ariados, sludge bomb! "

Dad's eyes widened. "NO!" he yelled as Ariapion crossed its arms in front of its face. its claws glowed a dark purple. A purple 'X' appeared in front of its crossed arms and it opens its hands, firing the 'X' at us. The same time, the bug type threw a brown blob of sludge at us. Both attacks evaporated when they his the barrier

" GET THEM! I DONT CARE HOW! JUST DO IT! !" J boomed.

Severus flicked his tail at Flamie and then at the foes- his skin was recovered now. He glowed pink (thanksss. Allow me )

She shook her head as she glowed pink as well. ( why let you have all the fun. let's both do it) she smiled.

They lunged at the foes. The ariapion fired a Pin Missile attack while the Ariados used smog to cover the room. No one could see what was going on but I heard the Ariados screech in pain as Severus' Secret Power attack hit it.

Dad, Jaden, Aki and I started coughing from the smoke. I quickly covered my mouth with my shirt so as to keep from breathing it in. "Flamie.. try your best... not to inhale the smoke" I coughed. "just... do your best and hit that thing"

I looked up and saw the partially smashed window- I looked at dad and then back at the window. He got my drift. "Storm, do you think you can blast that thing open with hidden power" he asked.

(I can try) she admitted.

I heard a cough from some where in the cloud. (you are mine, Mutt! I shall take pleasure in your death) I saw a deadly whip of night shade from the ariapion strike somewhere in the cloud of smoke.

(I don't think soooooo) Severus hissed as I saw the attack hit a green barrier and vanish. At the same time Jaden and I looked behind us and saw storm outline in a light green glow, with white orbs around her body. we ducked as the orbs were sent flying over our heads and smashed the window pane.

"what was THAT?" J growled as the smoke sailed out into the open air. "Ariapion, get that filthy cur with your rock tomb!"

(For the last time I'm NOT A FILTHY CUR) flamie yelled as she slammed into the hybrid before it had a chance to attack. She used fire fang on it!

(YEOOOOOOUCH! YOU DAMMED DOG!) it cursed.

"Awesome job Flame!" I whooped.

(thissss is for insssssulting jaden'ssss parents) Sev said as he used a massive scorching flamethrower at the ariados while Flamie used her Flame Wheel and then her own flamethrower . the heat from the infernos was so intense i thought i felt my hair sizzling.

I looked up an saw a huge tornado of fire engulf the Ariados and Ariapion. _There is no possible way they can survive that_ . J looked beyond livid. Even though she was pure evil and had hurt my family a lot I couldn't even bear the thought of killing her pokemon. "Flamie, stop." I said as Jaden said the same thing to Sev.

They obeyed and the fire attacks vanished. Jaden pulled out Sev's pokeball and recalled the exhausted looking Hoenn native. " you earned yourself a good long rest Sev." he stated as the snake was sucked inside the ball by a beam of energy. I saw The Ariados on it's back near J nearly burned to a crisp and the ariapion was laying on the floor scorch marks aplenty on it's ugly hide.

I high-fived my friend "nice job man. Now we can get out of here"

"yeah we showed her whose -"

"I wouldn't be celebrating so soon" J interrupted as she recalled the Ariados. She pointed to Flamie and then at the Ariapion. " faint attack and then grab it with your claws" . Flamie let out a bark of surprise as the ariapion jumped up to it's feet and disappeared. She looked around sniffing the air.

I watched as it came at her from the right side. "look out!" but it plowed right into her- she yelped in pain- and then snagged her with it's scorched front claws! It lifted her high into the air.

she attempted to escape the ariapion's grasp but she failed. we watched helplessly as that vile creature squeezed her tight like it had squeezed me not so long ago. She yipped trying to get out . " it looks like your pitiful pup is stuck like you were, brat" she taunted as the hybrid moved her closer to J's eye level . "it doesn't stand any luck escaping. It may have freed you but that only prolonged it's death... unless it joins the right side" she turned to the poor puppy pokemon. "what about it, mongrel?"

for her answer Flamie exhaled a flamethrower at J's hair, She ducked but patches of hair got slightly singed. _Good dog!_ . J glared as she got up and struck the dog hard with her right hand twice. I felt the stings like I was the who had been slugged. Beads of red appeared. J growled, "you filthy useless cur! Do you know how much that haircut cost? I can't wait to skin your fur from your lifeless body myself! It maybe a messy job but I think I can manage it." Flamie shivered. "Growlithe fur coats are very expensive and popular right now. I can just imagine how much money your coat would be . But first to dispose of you Ariapion k-"

I was horrified- no one I knew of- asides from my growlithe's cruel former trainer would EVER, EVER threaten a growlithe then slug them like that! as mentioned before i kind of have a temper that i'm usually able to keep in check-mom says i get it from dad. but after what i had just seen and been through - it was now past boiling point! "NO! NOT. MY GROWLITHE... YOU WITCH!"

" Silence brat! mimic! toast that mutt with it's own flamethrower! turn it into a hot dog " she cackled at her own joke. I gritted my teeth clamping my mouth shut. _She's no mutt you monster! She's a loyal purebred growlithe_

The ariapion opened it's jaws and unleashed a super hot flamethrower! I knew Flamie was a fire type so it wouldn't really effect her but I still was worried. There had been cases of a fire-type over heating themselves with fire so much they'd die. I remembered the ability she used when she was testing her moves against a flareon Sami was helping her dad raise. "Flamie! activate your flash fire ability " i called out. _please work. please work _i thought.

Her body glowed bright red as the fire attack hit her. I saw a look of shock run across J's face-it was priceless! She actually forgot about Flash Fire!

I shrugged my shoulders. " I learned from the best"

(YEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOW!) Ariapion bellowed in pain.

(can't handle the heat, creep?) Flamie unleashed a small fire ball at it.

"TURN THAT DOG INTO A PIN CUSHION! TAIL WHIP AND USE PIN MISSLE ON IT!" J roared.

Like J commanded, the vile creature-I wasn't even calling it a pokemon anymore- dropped her and then smacked her into the air with it's tails. As it unleashed the attack I shouted " get on to the balcony before the attack hits!"

(I'll – yeow!) I watched as a huge flurry of white needles struck her in mid-air as she tried to reach the balcony.

Jaden winced. " that's going to leave a mark"

The attack pushed her to the balcony where she collapsed.. "flamie, are you okay?"

"is she all right?" Jaden questioned. As if to answer his question the fire type slowly got to her paws. I saw huge bruises over her beautiful coat and her paws were shaking. Her fur had been punctured by the Pin needles and her face was puffy and red where J had slugged her. She was panting hard. She looked down at us and wagged her fluffy tail.

" you've done a great job. Flame. Good, good growlithe. " I said the first thing that came into my mind "run and get help"

She was clearly torn between doing that and staying behind to help us so she hesitated. (but you're-)

"stop it!" j pointed at the weary pokemon. Ariapion jumped up and blocked the doorway

(Where do you think you're heading, flea bag) it leered before moving a step closer. It took a swipe at her with one of its bloodstained arms but missed. She backed away as it tried again, moving closer to the edge. The third time it's claws connected and hit the injured howled in pain as she skidded across the tipsy balcony until she was a foot from the edge. I bit my lip nervously.

TO BE CONTINUED


	13. derek's in deep trouble now!

tick tock racing against the clock by wildcroconaw

Plot: what's this- I own ALL the characters in this fic! Mwah ha ha! This is my lucky day! If I'm dreaming then somebody smack me with a book! if only I could get a date with josh dallas from once upon a -{mia1986 hits her head with a hardcover breaking dawn }. oowwwww! Hey what was THAT for?

Mia1986: HA! You're dreaming! You don't own squat asides from your OCs!

oh hush! Did you have to hit me THAT hard

Mia1986: uh you kind of asked to be hit with a book you twit. If I didn't then you have rambled for ages when the readers want to read the fic!

I didn't asked to be hit with that book. In the words of bugs bunny, "aw shaddup!" Anyways Will Flamie get away from the ariapion? What will happen to Derek, Jaden, Ash, Aki and Storm? Author's Notes: _Italics_ are thoughts. () Is translated pokemon speech while " "is humans talking . enjoy!

* * *

I was paralyzed with fear at what was happening to flamie. "Der, what are you going to do? " Jaden was as worried as I was. "She's in major trouble"

"I know . " I bit my lip yet again- this time so hard i tasted blood . "Hold on flame"

(I'm trying to) she was scared as heck.

"last chance to surrender you annoying brat" J warned . "either you-"

"how many times do I have to say it you old bedlam " I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not surrendering"

"you might feel differently when that mutt is dead! Ariapion finish the job with double iron tail !"

Its tails became outlined in silver as it inched closer with every sentence, mocking an old nursery rhyme (this little mutt strayed far from home. This little mutt had treats and this little mutt had none. ) It raised the tails ( and this mutt got beaten by a stronger opponent!) it struck her with the attack, which she was too weak to fend off. Screaming my name she fell to the ground with a hard THUD, whimpering as she hit it. "FLAMIE!" I yelled.

before I had i chance to run over to her J screamed "Bury that thing alive! Acid Claw on that balcony!" I saw Ariapion's claws glow with a pulsing purple hue as it slashed across the balcony floor. An eerie goo spread form where it struck. I watched in horror as the balcony started to crumble and turn a sickly gray color before the scaffolding crumbled to the ground. The whole balcony soon followed.

"No!" A cry of horror escaped my mouth as I saw my growlithe get buried by the pile of rubble.

"And that mutt will never go home" J ended as the hybrid jumped down with a huge THUD that shook the floor . But I ignored her as Jaden and I rushed over to the pile of plaster, metal, and began sorting through it, despite my painful injuries, I began hauling the rubble off, my stomach in a tight knot for s while . _Come Flamie, give me a sign you're still alive_

As if she heard my thoughts, Jaden and I heard a whimper in the pile. We sped up the search. Soon enough I saw a dust covered black nose poking out at me. We cleared the rubble away from her, lifted the last heavy plank and bent railing off her. "That should do it " Jaden told me as he walked to where dad and the two 'chus were. He knew this was a private moment

She barreled into me, making me fall on my butt. She started licking me everywhere- my face my hands, even my injured legs- until I smelled of dog saliva. "Good girl" I rubbed her fur. "Oh flamie I'm so glad you're okay"

( I thought that creature was gonna kill me) she said in between licks.

She was hurt pretty badly - she had cuts and bruises over her fur. There were claw marks on her side from where that evil creature had held her in its clutches. She had pin sized cuts from where the pin missile hit and was holding her right paw against her side gingerly. She stopped licking me and looked up at me, her black eyes scared. (How are we going to get out of here?) She whispered shakily bringing me back to reality.

"I don't know"

" get rid of that mongrel once and for all " J pointed at Flamie. "Acidic strike!" Her eyes were as big as Leaf Stones.

She tried to stand in front of me but collapsed onto the floor . I saw the ariapion rush at us! I looked over at Jaden, Dad, Aki and Storm. I didn't know what to do but then I remembered mom telling me about what she did when the Tentacruel owned by the Invincible Pokémon Brothers used Poison Sting on the gym's angry Gyarados: "I couldn't stand to see him hurt like that so I did the only thing I could think of: jumped in the pool and took the hits meant for him- they knocked me out. It must have sparked something in him because the next thing I knew he freed himself and brought me to the surface. "

I gulped. _Hopefully that acidic claw isn't as painful as a poison sting. here goes nothing! _it opened it's blood-stained mouth and spat out some beastly looking acid I jumped in front of the growlithe just as the gunk reached her . I shifted my weight as the stuff hit one side of my body. Everyone but j yelled my name as I felt like I was on fire! I looked down and saw my shirt and jeans dissolving from the acid.

_I have a feeling this is nor ordinary Acid. _Then I saw Ariapion's tail lunge but my muscles wouldn't respond! I watched as the stingers on the tips glowed purple as they drew a line in my left arm from my shoulder blades to my arm. I screamed in pain! When it removed the tail I saw the places it had cut were bleeding and it was quickly turning purple. I knew right away what it was- Poison The moment the tails left my skin it burned like fire! "yeeeeooouch! It burns like hellfire" the pain from both the weird acid and now this was tremendous! It felt like I was bring eaten alive both inside and out.

J looked at me . "If I can't kill the pathetic cur first, I'll start with you, brat. "

I tried to dismiss the growing pain. "For starters don't call my growlithe pathetic or a cur ... secondly, even if it takes me the rest of my life I'll send you to Darkrai's part of the underworld"

Her blue eyes gleamed evilly. " The rest of your life? That should be about twenty minutes. But I have an antidote. All you " she looked at dad " have to do is surrender. Can't have you blabbing now caned i? And don't worry brat, you'll see your pathetic little family soon enough..."

Trying not to pay attention to the pain-, hard since the poison was spreading each minute, I motioned for Flamie to come closer. J was still ranting about getting revenge on dad so she wasn't paying attention. "Are you still able to battle?" I asked her.

She nodded. (I-I think so)

"That's my girl. Okay, flamethrower! "

"Sludge bomb!"

"Double team!" . she easily dodged the attack I was relieved we had practiced it with Jaden and Sev.

"Pin missile!"

"Aerial...Ace" I let out a groan of pain . The needles missed and she hit the hybrid head on . "good job Flamie"

"That dog is almost as stubborn as you, brat. It refuses to be killed" J clenched her teeth.

"She has a name, you withered old hag! Hard-headedness runs in my family"

J had a blazing fire in her eyes now. " YOU DARE CALL ME AN OLD HAG? ARIAPION! SMACK IT AGAINST THE WALL AND RESTRAIN THAT BRAT WITH A NIGHT SHADE WHIP!"

At the same time Jaden, Flamie dad and I yelled

"Run derek run!"

(Not again!)

"Don't call me a brat! Flamie, if you can, fire spin that thing! "

"get away from that thing quickly!"

(this is for- urk! ) as soon as the growlithe opened her mouth she was backhanded into a far away corner by both the side of a tail and an extended claw. She fell into a heap and didn't get up.

"NOOOOO! FLAMIE!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs as I painfully ran over to her- or tried to . something tripped me and I sprawled across the battered ground. I looked behind me and saw two huge thick ribbon of dark shadowy energy come for me. I was so weak I couldn't even move an inch. I felt one cold ribbon wrap around tightly and squeeze my legs hard while the other whip slapped me. "let ...me ..go" I whimpered "please"

"not until I know you're dead as mutton" she seethed . "which will be in about fifteen minutes. You caused a lot of trouble for me you snot nosed little irritating twerp and now you're a near goner. As for them " she looked over where dad, Jaden Storm and Aki were "they are out of options. Either submit to me and I'll save your miserable dying life or be killed. Either way you are completely f-"

(no they're not out of options ) we watched as Flamie slowly got to her paws. My mouth dropped _I thought she was dead. _(they... still have me) her black eyes were full of a burning fire I had never seen before and her fur was fluffed out.

J just said two words in a ice cold whisper. " kill. it"

Her pokemon lunged at mine firing a volley of dark brown sludge projectiles at her! "No!" I felt that word leave my mouth for the umpteenth time. trying to ignore the increasing burning pain in my body. " do your best to counter.. it"

Like a pro she avoided them using her agility. Then she stoped and her body was outlined in a blue outline. Just as the Sludge Bombs were about to hit her they turned around and hit Ariapion. "good.. job."

Her body went back to normal. She opened her mouth and unleashed a massive Fire Blast at her foe. As it screeched in pain as the attack hit. I saw the night shade whips disappear along with the one around me. I groaned in pain as I slowly got up – I felt something wet trickle down my back.

She looked at me and she bounded over to me as best she when the attack ended. "no flame! Sit. Stay" she gave a concerned sort of whine as she got within two feet of me as she obeyed . " good dog. don't.. come closer. If... you lick me... poison will spread" I couldn't feel my arm now.

A scorched ariapion sprung at her and used Iron Tail on her. Yet again, I watched in horror as she yelped from the impact, skidded across the floor and landed in the middle of the crater Dark Dragonite made.

(you shall perish under my blood soaked claws! You have been troublesome from the second that human) it pointed at Jaden for a second ( released you! your spirit shall be crushed and die along with you! you thought you could defeat my master? You are a fool you filthy-)

(wrong) she barked weakly as she got out of the hole. ( I'm ... not.. a fool. I don't think I will defeat you I KNOW I will. I may have taken a huge beating from you and things may look down right now. but during.. the short time I've been with derek ,,,, he's told me to never give up hope ,,, even when it looks like all else has failed. I ... can't let you win, even if you crush me, you .. will never break my spirit) she panted. Then something incredible happened. I looked up and saw her surrounded in orange red fire. Dad, Jaden , Storm and Aki's jaws were hanging open and their eyes wide. _holy arceus_

(THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH MY TRAINER'S FAMILY!) she roared. With blinding speed like she was a red, orange and white rocket she zoomed right at the hybrid, leaving behind a blazing trail orange fire! She slammed into it with such powerful force it nearly fell backwards. She rebounded back to back to dad and then did the same thing two more times.

my jaw dropped. "Th-that was flare Blitz!"

"I can't believe it.."

" me neither Jaden" dad replied.

(wow. Who would have thought she is that strong?) Aki said in amazement. Each time the vile hybrid tried to take a swipe at or strike her but missed however the third time she had no energy left to evade it. it hit it's target with a Metal Claw attack.

She was flung back to where everyone else was . J swept the room with her eyes. " how many times do I have to tell you: it's impossible to defeat me! nothing and no one can beat-" A loud roar echoed from around us

"wanna bet?" Sami's voice seemed far away. _Sami? How?_

" what the h–" J's voice was off as an Aerodactyl flew in and smashed the remaining two side windows , a Natu and a blue haired girl on it's back. I ducked as shattered shards of glass fell all around me.

"Terra- ancient power then rock tomb" Sami stated, a fierceness in her voice. A glowing blue sphere appeared in Terra's mouth and then she fired it at the creature.

the room started to spin and. I couldn't ignore the pain anymore- it was burning me up inside! Flamie stared at me, fear in her eyes. "fl-flamie... take care of...my f-family wh-when I'm gone"

She shook her head and whined (you'll make it derek .. we'll get that vile gunk out of your body as soon ass we get out)

I coughed- flecks of purple came out. J let out her eerie cackle. "looks like the kid's time is nearly up and he knows it too."

"no!" I heard Dad, Sami Aki, Storm and Jaden scream in unision but it felt as if they were far away instead of in the same room.

everything started to blur together along with voices. Faces and colors meshed together. I couldn't feel my arms anymore and yet I could fell my whole body trembling. The poison must have travelled far in my body – I felt so hot and in pain I was surprised i hadn't exploded yet. I had to give in. As I fell to the floor the last thought I had was _I'm sorry mom and pikachu . I failed. I'm so sorry_

TO BE CONTINUED


	14. the choice

the decision by wildcroconaw

Plot: those worried about that cliffie I left you with last chapter fear not!

Derek: You left me on death's doorstep

you think I'm going to kill you off

Derek: well, no

for mew's sake you're the sodding hero! Chapter is in Misty's pov . " " is humans talking and _italics_ are thoughts while ( ) is translated Pokemon speech.

I looked over at my sleeping son from the chair next to his bed. He looked so brave for the hell he went through. I angry at j for doing this to him as I took in the countless wires attached his body from the machine on the other side of the bed, the myriad of cuts on his face and arms and the long white scar on his left arm where the IV from a huge hanging bag of antidotes pumping it through his body. There was a hospital bandage around his injured rib

_My poor baby _I shuddered. Jaden told me their side of the story- it was a day after Ash, Derek, Sami, and himself had escaped her barely with their lives. I was horrified to find out what she nearly did to them. but was nothing compared to how Jessie and James reacted. They were furious.

The door opened and someone came in. I jumped up- my heart racing but as the door closed I relaxed. It was only Sami- she was trying to catch her breath, her face flushed. "Parents... finally let me come ... too mad at first...horrified when I told what. happened"

I didn't want to know how Gary and Dora reacted- probably the same way I did when she had shown me the note. I motioned for her to sit down in the chair next to me -she collapsed into it. She sighed as her gaze shifted to the bed for a few minutes before returning to me. _ does she like him?_

" How is he?"

Keeping my voice steady I told her I knew- he had a crushed rib and lost lots of blood but the doctors had attended to that stat. The trickier part wasn't extracting the poison but getting the proper antidote in. "... It's tricky cause poisons differ greatly along with their antidotes. Whatever it was that put the poison in him made it very tricky to combat. " I ended. " Jaden said it was something called an ariapion- some kind of freaky cross of an Ariados And Drapion "

Sami looked at me, her amber eyes clouded. "it was Mrs. K- It was pure evil and devoted to J. I saw it . Something like that should not be allowed to exist outside of campfire and ghost stories ." Her voice lowered. "As we were trying to escape she ordered it to follow us and- attack our l-loved ones until we were all dead" she trembled as if she were in a cold environment. "I had no choice- I had to tell Terra to use her giga impact. Otherwise-"

I understood My husband's words: "I had to tell Storm and Aki to use hyper beam on them. I didn't have any choice Mist. If I didn't our lives would be nightmares now- we'd be no better than Eevees fleeing from a huge hungry Mightyena". I know he had to do it to save our lives.

I patted her shoulder. "It's okay Sami. You did the world a favor"

she glanced down at her hands in her lap as if she could see a taint of death on them. I knew it would haunt her for a while. She looked out the window at the crowd outside the hospital - aurora and sybil were keeping the mass of reporters away. "I should have been there earlier. It's my fault"

. "It's okay sami. It's not your fault-"

She turned back to me, her face wet. "It is, if I had paid attention to Apollo's nagging then maybe he wouldn't been poisoned

"we both know he didn't know exactly when his vision would happen. even if you did maybe there is a reason it happened" I said. She gave a confused look. "Let me put it this way- if I had never fished my husband out of the pond when he was ten & he didn't ruin my bike we never would have travelled together nor fallen in love over the years. "

She nodded looking upset so I tried to change the subject. "How long has he had the growlithe"?

She fiddled with her ying yang necklace as she spoke." a few months. He was walking one day when he saw a half-dead figure get beat up by this Spearow attack so he stepped in and fought them off. He noticed she was hurt so he brought her to my house. Mom healed her up . The owner came by for her but she kept on coming back with new bruises –"

I pieced together the rest. "He was abusing her so she ran away. But he came back looking for her hurt somehow Derek fought him off"

She nodded. "he said th-that if the trainer knew who he was he might come back and with back up.

_Like father like son. _I smiled. "I can see him doing that r- he's so like his dad in that way " I thought of Sunset, one of our charizards. She had been in bad shape when we found her on the property- her wing was nearly torn off and she was nearly dead until we fed and took care of her. It was kind of the same story. the worst part was she was a shiny. it was a long trial in the courts. This was a few years before Ash and I had gotten married. then he reappeared in a clearing where i was alone before our wedding and ..I shivered.

_don't think about it misty _

She looked up at me. "Please don't be mad at him. He promised Jade and I to secrecy _How could I be mad at him for secretly training a growlithe when I've kept that secret about those attacks on his life all these years? _"I'm not mad at all. She saved his life "

Her next question surprised me. " Are you going to let him go on a journey? I mean "

I looked from Sami to Derek and back again. To be honest, I wasn't sure what Ash would say. There was still thise secret we hadn't told him about. Who even knew if HE was still-

Suddenly the door opened and a young strawberry- blonde haired man- Dr. Henry Stewart- popped his head in, "there's been a break though on getting rid of the poisons."

Sami and I both jumped up at the news. "A breakthrough?"

Her face lit up. "But h-how? ". I shrugged my shoulders

Dr. Stewart motioned for us to come outside. "He needs his rest so I'll bring you outside to talk about it " We followed him out the door.

XxX Time Lapse XxX Time Lapse XxX Time Lapse XxX Time Lapse XxX Time Lapse XxX

I let out a long sigh as I reached the house later that night. _He's going to make it through._ Dr. Stewart told us that they had discovered that a careful blend of antidotes mixed in with some Moo-Moo milk would be able to get it out of his body. They would try it tonight and call us in the morning. He also said that if they had gotten Derek there any later it would have been too late. I shuddered at that thought as I unlocked the door.

I turned on the light in the hallway after I closed and locked the door. before the door had even shut i was bombarded by lots of questions from a bouncing bundle of yellow fur on the floor and one from a worried worn out looking growlithe

(misty! you're back! is the poison out? was it bad? Is he gonna be alright ? mom's injuries were and aki said-)

(is derek gonna be okay? is he gonna make it ? is- )

I chuckled . "for arceus' sake taran stop bouncing around like you've got a joltik in your fur . and flamie don't worry he's going to be okay" her tail wagged happily. "where is everyone?"

She made a pointer's position toward my bedroom. the pikachu stopped bouncing on his paws. (mom, dad and aki all fell asleep in your) he yawned (y-your room. aiden and dj are in there too. dad hasn't left aki out of his sight) he looked away and i knelt down to scratch him behind the ears

" you look wiped out"

(i couldn't rest . i was too worried 'bout Aki and Derek)

i could understand his problem- his sisters Electra and Thora went to other trainers so his parents and Aki were all he had left. Come to think of it . he was pretty close with my kids too. I had an idea. "don't worry tar everything is going to work out. why don't you go to sleep and tomorrow we can go to the meadow and have a picnic? we can bring out some of the baby pokemon "

his eyes sparkled as he nodded. (okay. 'night ) i stood back up and watch med as he sleepily went into the living room, jumped onto a soft poke-bed on the floor and instantly fell asleep.

" poor guy"

(he's a good 'mon) flamie commented

"yeah. His other siblings, Zapp, Thora and Electra went to other trainers, so he and aki are very close. It must have been so hard for him when storm was taken and aki left. He's close with my kids too. He and aki were little pichus when derek was born "

(no wonder why he was so worried about derek and his sister. ) the growlithe commented. ( I think he would have stayed up all night just to hear an update.)

i looked over at her. "how come you're not asleep Flamie? you must be wiped out after what you went through"

(I couldn't) she admitted (growlithes stick to their promises no matter what. before he f-fainted Derek promised me that no matter what to take care of his family)

I patted her head " you're a good girl".

We walked towards the bedroom. She looked up at me. (How is he? Did they get the poison out)

I nodded. "He's okay, thank Arceus."

(Are you upset with him? About ... not telling you about me)

"Of course not. " I thought hard "Sometimes –sometimes we have to keep secrets from the ones we love the most. It's not easy and there are times it can really hurt"

(Oh. I -) she yawned (I get it)

We reached the bedroom door. I bent down to face the growlithe. " You look like you could fall asleep on your paw any second " I commented kindly. "Go to sleep . Tomorrow we'll get you a soft bed of your own as well as a beautiful new collar. You have to get registered and checked at the local pokemon center too "

(a collar? A bed? M-me?) Her eyes widened in surprise. I almost felt tears coming to my eyes- remembering what sami had said about flamie's life beforehand. (y-you mean-).

I nodded "I'd say you earned your keep with us." She licked my face and bounced off. _What a good dog. _I thought as I quietly opened the door. _loyal, wonderful and brave plus she can put up her own in a battle. What more could you ask for? _

My heart melted when I saw my two kids asleep on the bed. They were huddled around aki and her siblings - also in dreamland. My husband was nodding off on his side of the bed. I cleared my throat and he looked up as I walked over to him

"Hey baby" I planted a kiss on his cheek. I looked at his injures-they were pretty bad. He had a deep gash on shoulder and his other arm was in a splint. Wounds danced on him. _If j weren't dead I'd make her pay. _" How are you?"

" Freaking J. I'd be better if my wounds weren't being a pain in the-"

I silenced him with a look, gesturing to the kids. I gave him another kiss. "At least you're all home safely. Well most of you

"Yeah. How was he when you went to see him "

" For what he's been through he looks good. The doctors said they think they found the antidote to the poison. If apollo had gotten him there any later-" I didn't even want to think about it

"Mist, I've been thinking"

"Hmmm"

"Do you think we should tell him you know about what happened?" he didn't sound so certain

I sighed. "He's got to know sometime"

"I just hope he doesn't hate us for it". He gulped "I think that who J's client was"

I lowered my voice. "Yung? Or you know who"

He nodded. "I have a feeling it was yung. She said that that we messed up his plans & that he nearly got revenge. " his black eyes locked with mine.

( then we're in a pickle if it is him) Pikachu got up from his bed on the chaise lounge and leapt lightly, and landed next to us. (I thought he was a goner after the last time) he glanced at Aki's remaining tail. It was due to Yung that she had evolved from a pichu but also lost it.

I scratched his left ear. "we never saw what happened with him and Mewtwo, Mew and celebi. I just don't want the same thing to happen to him again."

"he was just a baby then. Misty" ash pointed out "not even five years old. If you saw Derek battle J, you would have been so proud of him." He took a huge breath of air. " I really think it's time we told him the truth and let him go"

( that's right. i think he'll understand but i have a strange feeling he's going to be pretty shocked)

"Probably, Pikachu" I admitted

(When storm told me what happened, i felt like all the blood drained from my body-i was terrified and proud at the same time. she was so brave but i bet she was really frightened as well) his gaze turned toward his sleeping pup then back to us. (i know i have to let her go but as a parent it's hard to admit it. i'll still be worried for her saftey but knowing what Storm and Ash told me, i'm confident she can face the world on her own paws)

I sighed. _He's right. _"you took the words right out of my mouth Pikachu. that's how i feel about letting Derek go but i know it's for the best"

I saw DJ stir and open her eyes. "Mommy?" she looked up at me sleepily.

I went over to her and sat next to her. "hey sweetheart"

"is- is derek going to- to die?"

I told her the truth. " no DJ. "

(too hard headed to let himself go in that way. sounds like someone else i know. isn't that right ash) Pikachu looked over at my husband , who nervously chuckled.

"Is the poison from the mean pokemon out of him? "

I smiled and hugged her. "yes, it's out" I said truthfully. "he's going to be okay"

TO BE CONTINUED


	15. confession time part 1

Waking up by wildcroconaw

Plot: written the week before Halloween 2011. If you think I own any characters asides from dark Dragonite, the ariapion, Derek's guardian angel or derek then I shall send the ghost of john Joseph Jacobs-er mama Jacobs to trample with her horse.

Mia1986: you've been watching the 'girth' episode of _pushing daisies_ again haven't you?

Maybe... I'm not going to scare myself that much on Monday.

Mia1986 (fake cough): chicken

I am not!

Mia1986: then how come the only scary things you'll watch on Halloween are Coraline, the episode and first scary movie?

Uh i have a condition called "horrorfilm-itus". (Mia1986 fake coughs 'wimp'). Oh stuff it! Besides 'girth' is such a great episode. Why did it have to be cancelled?

Mia1986: Get your head out of Papen County so your readers can find out what happens next. The readers have been dying to know what will happen next- if Derek will survive. If you are actually going to finish this fic

Fine. Bossypaws. " " Is humans talking and _italics_ are thoughts while () is translated pokemon speech. The parts that are in {} is his guardian angel of sorts talking to him. This chapter was influenced by the 'kings cross' chapter in the last harry potter novel. Enjoy

XxX chapter is below XxX

Voices and images swirled around me Dark Dragonite and Ariapion. Me screaming. Flamie battling. Aki using volt tackle. The glowing Dustox and Beedrill. The dream I had about my parents. those unknown voices. My parents screaming my name. a man with a burnt face laughing evilly. the pain from the poison. they blurred together like mixed paint until i couldn't stand it. "STOP"

Then the images stopped. I opened my eyes and found myself lying on cold earth . i stood up and looked around- i noticed i was in a gray foggy field and a strange mist surrounded the clearing . I looked down and saw I was wearing the clean clothes I had put on before the confrontation with J. _Great Arceus- it wasn't that long ago. Wait. clean clothes._ I did a double take down at my clothes. they WERE clean- not a scratch or tear , not even a sign of the poison or blood! _that's weird_

The scars from the Ariapion were gone too . There was no one in sight- the mist was so thick I couldn't see five feet in front of me. "hello? Is anyone there ?"

Nothing. I tried again. "anyone here?" I squeaked. . i got a bad vibe in the pit of my stomach ."am I d-d-"

{dead? I don't think so} A voice out of nowhere replied {you're alive for now . }

"who's there?" I looked around but no figure appeared out of the mist. _Does that voice belong to a friend or foe?_

{you need not fear me kid} the invisible voice said, as if reading my thoughts. {I'm a friend}

"How-How come i can't see you? wh-what i mean who are you? where am i? why's the mist so thick" "

{ so many questions. i suppose you can call me ... Guardian. the mist is there for a good reason . } the unseen figure seemed to hesitate for a second. {be glad you're on that side}

my spine tingled- that didn't sound good. "Why, Guardian? What is this place"?

Guardian sighed, {the truth is Derek} somehow it knew my name without me saying anything {the poison got deep into your body-}

My eyes widened. "Does that mean i'm d-"

{Not really. you're still alive but hanging on a by a thread. you're at a sort of crossroads}

"Crossroads?"

I pictured Guardian rolling its eyes -or whatever passed for its eyes. _Did it even have eyes? _{An intersection road that normally splits into four roads or paths, but here there are only two choices. as you say, 'duh'. one path will take you back and the other will let you ... move on}

My mouth dried up and i couldn't seem to speak for a few minutes. 'You mean I have a choice whether I want to die or return"

{Yes. You know you've got major guts and you're}

"Wh-what do you mean"

{Just that. you deny surviving malevolent woman's treatment wasn't luck.}

"Well-"

{And that beast you faced when you very little. You've been through hell kid and it turned out okay. You saved the world}

_What beast is guardian talking about? _I tried to remember but all i could recall was the man with a severed burnt face. I looked down at my sneakers. "All I did was rescue my dad, and storm from J. That wasn't saving the world"

{It was}

"How so?"

{You heard what J said she was going to do.}

I shuddered. "Well bits and pieces. She didn't reveal her whole plan but dad was horrified. How did me beating her save the world"?

{She would have taken your family- you as well to her employer, as evil and as despicable as one could be. You've heard Mewtwo's past?} I nodded. {This is much eviler. Imagine a world filled with evil hybrids and heartless pokemon like the ones you faced? A world where Mirage Pokemon have totally taken over-}

At this a chill went down my spine. The only mirage pokemon I knew of was Mew but the way the voice said it made me think it was bad. As it talked I could see it unfold in images around me {barren landscapes where unlawful ruthless villans prowl. The league under his thumb, powerless to stop the carnage. Despair and hopelessness is all the world knows. Deaths are common. No one brave enough to stop or stand up them. Your parents-}

I choked back a sob. "No! Don't tell me any more! " The horrible images vanished.

{So like your dad. } I thought I heard guardian sigh.

My mouth dried up again. "y-you know my dad?"

it faltered a bit. {y-yes. I have been watching your family... for-for a while now. They are concerned about the poison in your body)

a sense of longing hit me with the force of a Donphan. "i-I want to go home. "

{very well. but remember this is but a dream. You will not remember it} A minute later I saw two human hands wave the fog away.

_Wait? Human hands? _The wind became so fierce I was lifted off the ground.

I looked behind me and saw a huge gaping hole. I had no time to think as I fell down, down, down.

XxX haze ends XxX haze ends XxX haze ends XxX haze ends XxX haze ends XxX haze ends XxX

The first thing I heard that broke me out of my haze was my parents' voices. My head felt like it had an anchor attached to it.

"... Have to tell him the truth. "

"But she said that he was still out there Mist. You weren't there" _Huh? Who are they talking about?_

I pictured Mom giving him a look. " let him have a chance Ash. You know we can't keep him in the dark forever. One day he's going to find out"

"but what if you-know- who finds him?" dad sounded worried.

(If he and Aki defeated that Dragonite that Storm was telling me about, I think he's ready) Pikachu said. (it's like I told you last night. You have to let him go) I groaned and opened my eyes a bit. (look , he's stirring)

I sleepily opened my eyes and saw that I was in a hospital bed in a room. My parents and pikachu were in chairs a foot or so away from my bed. All three looked tired. I shifted myself up to a more comfortable sitting position. I looked over to left arm and saw a huge scar on it and it all came back: the battle with J, the Ariapion using that weird move on me

"Wh-what happened? Am I dead ? What happened to J? " The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. I looked around. "Where's my growlithe? Are Jaden, Aki Storm and Sami okay? I thought-"

Pikachu raised a paw as if to telling me to clam up. (No, you're not dead Derek. They're fine aside from the bullet in Jaden's arm-)

My eyes widened . "b-b-bullet?"

(he's fine- his left arm got a bit injured but his parents were ticked)

"They were more scared than ticked. I thought Jessie was going to blow a gasket or something" Mom pointed out. "As to where J is... she's completely dead."

"She's... dead?" My mouth dried up. "h-how"

dad looked uneasy. "terra, aki and Storm used giga impact and hyper beam on the hide out when we were in the air before she could come after us. "

he looked away for a few seconds and I realized what he did- the one thing that I had refused to do to the Ariapion. _He didn't have a choice. It was a life or death situation- namely my life and her death_ . "I hope I never have to do that again. It was either her or us. "we sent Skyler into the forest to double check –"

"and he saw the remains" I ended, feeling like a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders. She was dead! That evil horrible woman was dead! _She'll never hurt another living being human or pokemon again nor hurt my family! Just hearing her tell Flamie that she would skin her alive made me utterly terrified. Oh no- Flamie! -_ "Flamie!" I said out loud . " my growlithe. Where is she? Is she okay?"

"calm down derek" mom told me. " she's resting at home. Dora fixed her up. She's brave- having to put up with that battle with J"

I felt liked I had been socked. "y-you know what happened?" mom nodded. Unable to stop myself the words spilled out of my mouth like puke. "I'm sorry mom. I know I should have told shown you the note. But you were hurt and lost. it said no tricks or else. I thought maybe-maybe if I found dad and storm and brought them back home then you'd let me go" I mumbled the last part.

" sweetie, I'm not mad at all. Sami showed me that note and said where you were - she got really nervous. that's when with some help from apollo I recalled what happened. " she shuddered. she got up and squeezed my left hand- her face wet. " she told me apollo had a vision of -"

"me" my face went a bit pink and i had a sinking feeling in my stomach. "did she say what the vision was of"

"a little but she was terrified. she ran home to get terra and flew off"

I felt horrible. i hung my head. " i didn't want to scare you or anything."

"i would have been scared either way. I did hear that you really showed her-"

"oh that? i just tried to stay alive as best as i could"

"that's my boy" she smiled and looked at Dad and Pikachu as if confirming something then back to me. "there's something you should know"

Mom sighed. " We haven't been with you about letting you go on your own journey. There were ...two incidents that happened that m-made your father and I hesitate-"

I sat up a bit straighter. "What do you mean incidents? Was it something to do with you and dad?"

She sighed "It was something like that, Sweetie- we didn't know they would-you were only a baby- I thought they wouldn't,"

My stomach turned. "Wouldn't what mom?"

Dad finished for her. "Y-you were nearly killed twice as a baby. That's the reason we didn't let you go"

"Wh-wh-whaaat- ouch! " I sat up quickly in the bed- my rib and arm screamed as the pain exploded.

"Careful" dad warned

(Told you he wouldn't take it well) pikachu muttered.

"You were right. " mom sighed, "It happened a long time ago when you were really little. It's long story"

I shrugged my shoulders-"it's not like I'm going any where." I pointed out as I shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

My parents looked at one another as if deciding who should start. "You go first"

"No you go first, Ash. You're the one who spotted them."

"It was Taran who saw them first"

"You start honey"

"No you begin."

Pikachu rolled his eyes (I swear to Arceus. sometimes it's like you two haven't grown up at all. you were both made for each other. I'll start) they nodded- looking a bit relieved. (I remember it clearly. You were fourteen months old and it was the day before the battle park was going to open.)

I listened as mom picked up the story. "The first time happened when you were about fourteen months old, right before the frontier opened. We were having a picnic in the park and you were fast asleep in my arms. You had strawberry Oran berry pie smudged all over your face" mom chuckled. "You were such a messy eater. Pikachu was watching Electra, Taran, aki and thora play nearby- "

"What about Zap" I asked recalling the siblings' spiky haired easygoing brother.

(He caught a cold so he was with Storm and Sybil at home) Pikachu explained. (Thora dared aki to swim in the pond. as she did she let out a squeak that she had felt something reach for her. Instinctively i told them to get away as quick as they could and come back.) He paused to catch his breath (as they did, aki tripped on a rock and a rubber glove on an extendable hand grabbed her. Taran and thora used protect and it bounced right off but then a sticky net sprang out of the water and landed over us. An old submarine appeared out of the water...)

Author's notes: MWAH HA HA! The return of the cliffhanger!


	16. confession time part 2

Confessions part 2 by wildcroconaw

Plot: sorry this chapter took so long

Sunkit (One of my OCs): why did it take you so dang long to write this

What in the name of starclan are you doing in this Fic , sunkit?

Sunkit: got bored of me and my litter-mates to be written into a new story.

I'll get around to it after I finish this story.

Sunkit: yeah when you finish this story.

Thanks so much for volunteering to read the authors notes and disclaimer

Sunkit: ! I didn't say anything about- [WC gives her a Look] okay you win. The day that a huge snowstorm descends upon Los Angeles for two weeks is when WildCroconaw owns all the characters, not just her OCs. But all she owns is aki and Derek. () Is translated Pokéspeech, _italics_ are thoughts and " " are humans talking. Enjoy

Recap: Pikachu picked up for mom. (The Kabutops was having a tough time trying to swat the blur while keeping a sickle tight grip on you and Yung's insistence to get it were no help at all. Then it bit down on the clone, which howled loudly and it dropped you. One of the blurs separated from the others and then we saw what who it was)

XxX chapter is below XxX

"Your old butterfree? " I guessed.

Dad smiled. "Yup, i hadn't seen him in years- his body was blue- gray with age. He put up a barrier over you and let out a long growl. a few seconds later a whole flock of butterfree and Beautifly flew in and attacked the mightyena and Kabutops. " He paused. i wondered yet again how he managed to keep this inside for years. " but yung summoned more mirage pokemon, like an Ursaring and Armaldo even a mirage celebi and the tide turned. As butterfree saw his flock he ended the barrier to tell them to retreat. Yung told the mirage celebi to use its powers to bind us "

Mom picked up the story. " It was like it controlled the earth. Trees quickly grew out of control. Sharp thorny roots came up out of the ground and bound you me, pikachu and your dad- aki was knocked out. He brought out a gun and-and aimed at you. You were fighting the roots holding you cause you were so scared and because of that you getting major scratches. We were screaming our heads off as yung fired it"

"... And then butterfree... he flew in right, as the bullet was about to strike you. He took the bullet and. he- he" dad couldn't even finish. A few tears slid down his face. I knew they weren't just from the story but about close I had been to sharing Butterfree's Fate. Mom and pikachu looked at him.

"Dad ... " I was stunned as I looked from my parents to pikachu and back again. I couldn't believe that butterfree would sacrifice his life to save mine but didn't know what to say. What could I say? " dad, mom ... I'm so sorry"

Instinctively I reached to my throat and touched my Adam's apple for a few seconds, imagining my much younger self with a knife against it. "So that's why you wouldn't let me go" They nodded. So many questions went through my head-_did they ever catch him? How did yung know where to find mom? What would have happened if Yung had succeeded?_

I decided i didn't want to know the answer to that last thought . tNow it made perfect sense why they didn't tell me- two close murder attempts on you and your kid's life is not something you would tell them. Seeing the first pokemon you ever raised take a fatal injury ... I shuddered at the thought. _It must have been down right horrible. _"How-how did we escape"

(As butterfree lay on the ground he let out this long cry- a mental one too. A few of the remaining butterfree saw what happened and let out this huge anguished cry. Yung was too busy gloating and laughing maniacally to notice. He told the mirage celebi to use a combo of seed bomb and charge beam and then. Finish us with rock wrecker) Pikachu added then noticing my stunned look and my wide eyed expression he put in (the legendaries saved us at the last minute with an enormous barrier right as the charge beam/ seed bombs were bout to hit us)

"But-how- i mean dad didn't call them right? It's not like they are tamed pokemon"

Mom gave a little half smile. "It thinks it was Butterfree's last wish. Anyways we didn't see what the outcome was. Ho-oh and celebi told us they'd take care of yung for us and to take care of you and aki. Mewtwo teleported us and Butterfree's body to the nearest center. . " She looked at them and then at me. "We got you and aki there just in time. But aki paid a heavy price"

"Her tail. " I put in.

Pikachu nodded (not just that Derek. I don't know if it's because we chus' use our tails to gather electricity and that mirage mightyena bit off half off hers or if she overdid her electricity. Bur .. she lost her ability to use electrical moves ) the mouse looked really down as he said this. (To a Chu not being able to use electric attacks. Storm said it's the worst feeling in the world- you feel cut off from the world. It's like Arceus cursed you for a horrendous crime you didn't commit. Aki was so conflicted when she discovered Her loss that she bolted cause she was frightened and hurt.) The mouse sighed. (She nearly was killed by a poacher- but Misty saved her and got through to her)

Mom nodded. " She was a total mess but i was able to get through to her. "

Dad scratched the mouse behind his ears. "Just like what happened we first arrived in hoenn the first time, huh pikachu?"

The yellow pokemon nervously chuckle. (Uh ...yeah. But that was cause I was sick and confused .)

"Anyways" continued Mom, "when i mentioned the incident she got all panicky and terrified again. So after much thought you father and i we talked Mewtwo into erasing your and aki's memories of what happened. He did say that it wasn't as powerful as the ones he used twice in the past and that sooner or later the memories would come back "

I remembered the dream of those mirage Beedrils i had. "Wh-what happened to b-butterfree?"

"We buried him underneath a beautiful cherry blossom tree that celebi herself planted . I th-think he would have liked that" dad's voice cracked a little. "That's why the battle park's symbol is a pikachu's tail crossed over two butterfree wings" . _Now that symbol makes sense_

His eyes twinkled. "You'll be able to win one yourself with ... what did you say your growlithe's name was again? Flamie?"

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out but a squeak . He continued. " She took some horrible knocks during the battle. I was impressed. Why didn't you tell us about her?"

I looked down at my bed sheets. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to pretend that I didn't have famous parents," I mumbled. "At first I wanted to get her better but then I saw her try to battle and we just started practicing. ... She saved our butts with that Ariapion- her fire attacks really came th-through and she learned Fl-flare blitz "

My parents and pikachu looked at one another, nodded and then at me. Mom started, " sweetie, we've been talking and we think that despite what you just went through, you've shown us that you can handle anything your journey throws at you ."

'

My mouth dried up I couldn't speak- _Did she just say what I think she said? _Noticing the stunned look on my face she nodded" from what storm, Jaden, and your father have told me, you handled yourself quite well with J- even to the point that you took that horrid, horrid acidic strike attack for your growlithe."

(Storm told me that when J was holding her with the knife you refused to harm her and that you made a promise that you intended to keep. That's true courage. You also went to rescue them not knowing what awaited you in order to save your family. That the spirit a true trainer needs) Pikachu pointed out

"y-you mean it? But –I nearly died from Js pokemon .. I mean after what you just told me –I didn't think -" I stopped as dad brought out a small gray and red handheld electric device and once again I felt my mouth dry up like some one was using a sunny day attack in it. my eyes went as big as an aura sphere attack. I knew what that was . " is that a pokédex?"

" It's was going to be a surprise for your birthday but I think you deserved It." dad beamed.

"Th-thanks. Y-you don't know how m-much this means t-to m-me" I was almost crying.

Mom smiled as dad put the pokédex – my pokédex - away. "It still needs a few adjustments, like a voice recognition, a tracker device , phone numbers and a GPS-" she looked over at dad. "but other than that it's all set "

"when will I be able to go?"

"well.." dad was a bit hesitant. "the doctors think they've got the poison out but they still need to do some tests. Plus you lost a ton of blood and energy -" at the mention of that I suddenly felt hit with tiredness like it was a rampaging rhyperior.

( and aki still needs to recover and heal as well . so I'd wager about three to four months) Pikachu estimated.

"that's f-f-fine with m—me " I yawned "I can w-wait "

Mom got up and planted a kiss on my forehead. "you look worn out sweetie. Get some rest- you still haven't recovered. I'll come by with your grandma , DJ and aiden tomorrow"

"sure thing mom" I mumbled sleepily as i closed my eyes. Not even two minutes after my head hit the pillow oi was fast asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED


	17. sami's secret

My secret by WildCroconaw

Plot: This is just a little thing about Sami's crush on Derek And Apollo's vision, her POV. Thoughts are italics, vision is in {} and Pokéspeech is in (). Don't take sami or jaden! You do than May brokenstar haunt your dreams. I live for reviews.

XxX fic is below XxX

Love. The dictionary says it's a demotion of a strong affection and personal attachment Between two people. but ask anyone either what their personal definition of love or how they found it and it's like finding the same Spinda spot patterns- no two are alike. Sometimes it is instant; sometimes it comes out of years of friendship. Other times it can unexpected. It could be a selfless act. Sometimes it's like a Peacha berry tree - it develops slowly over time until it's staring you in the face. I fall into the last category:

i, Samantha 'sami' Kyralie Oak, the daughter of kanto professor gary oak and his wife dora have fallen head over heels in love... With none other my best friend Derek... who happens to be the son of Ash and Misty Ketchem,

I don't know how it came about. We met at school when we were very young and bonded quickly. At the time he was an only child and i have a twin brother. We were both kids of Pallet City's most famous citizens who wanted to step out of our parents' spotlight. We shared similar goals and dreams for the future. We were so close that we joked that we were related. in a sense we were: his dad was my godfather. We did lots of things together . in fact he helped me get over my fear of flying on a pokemon.

X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback

"I don't know derwick" I gulped as I looked up at the massive charcoal gray skinned charizard and the dragonair . I was about five years old.

"I can understand your fear sami" my godfather told me. he was stroking the head of the dragonair. "it's scary your first time-"

"but it's rweally cool" derek interjected. His handsome eyes sparkled- even when I was that young I was enchanted by him. " it like you're in another world. You can go through clouds and fog and mist. Please sami?"

"wh-what I fall off? The winds are weally stwong in the air" I voiced my fears.

" you won't" derek reassured me and squeezed my hand. I looked over at him . "awora and sunset wont let you fall and neither will I"

the charizard shook her great head. (of course we won't you fall little ones)

(and if you do ash an' I will be there to catch you) aurora added.

"well... I'll twy". I agreed.

with Ash's help both Derek and I got settled on Sunset's back while he got on to aurora's. " you want to hold on tight to me cause this is your first time . just welax. you don't wanna be scared 'wound 'zards when you're widing on them. Mommy told me that Daddy was all nervous and looked a fool when he firt wode a charizard. "

we giggled while ash groaned. "did your mother have to tell you that ?"

"sawwy daddy. "

(everyone ready?) aurora asked and we nodded.

"you might wanna close your eyes for the take off " derek whispered. I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard Sunset flap her wings lightly and then I felt the rush of air.

"you can open them sami" Ash told me a few minutes. I did and saw that we weren't even that up – only about thirty to fifty feet up.

_Wow! This is pretty awesome! _ I was awed by how beautiful it was up here. "this... is wonderful" I remarked

" I told ya" derek grinned. I blushed

X flashback ends X flashback ends X flashback ends X flashback X flashback ends X

Soon we went from being a duo to being a trio.

X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback

"hey sam?" a seven-year-old Derek asked me one day. We were sitting at a bench at the park on a summer day , having ice cream cones- derek's mom was pushing his five month old sister DJ on a swing nearby.

" hmm?"

"do .. you ever think 'bout what path you're gonna take on your journey in a few years ?"

"haven't really thought about it. wh-what about you " I felt my cheeks burn as

he grinned sadly. " I wanna be the greatest trainer in kanto an' be able to make a name for myself. " he gazed down at his ice cream "no one really sees me as me – all they do is look at me and see dad or mom. I wanna step outside their shadows" he looked back at me. " y-you're lucky sam- least no one really compares you to you dad"

"not yet- at least" I pointed out before licking my ice cream. . "but dad said that I should choose my own path"

"lucky duck everyone expects me to be my dad. Bryce, and tami and the rest of the school bullies say I'm gonna be just like him an' get into lots of trouble"

"tami is just jealous cause you know lots more 'bout hoenn and unova pokemon" I pointed out. _That spoiled rich brat thinks money can get her everything but it can't get her knowledge. _ "plus she thinks that as the mayor's kid she gets to boss everyone around" .

"yeah..."

he still looked down so I decided to change the subject. "Did you hear about the new family in town?"

he nodded. "mom and dad said something about them moving into the Morrison's old house. Said they were starting up a restaurant"

_Cool a new neighbor. _"Really?"

He nodded. " they knew them from when they went on their own journey. I overheard mom saying that they wanted a fresh start. "

" a fresh start? From what?"

he shrugged his shoulders. " I dunno, Sami. They said that they have two kids- an older girl and their son's around our age maybe a little younger . the son's apparently really shy" his green eyes sparkled and he smiled. " he's not gonna be shy round us."

I felt a warm feeling go through my body. "no he won't"

"Want to go see if when they move in , mom and dad can help us make gram's famous triple berry pie to bring over"

"Sure thing"

X flashback ends X flashback ends X flashback ends X

Derek and I became quick friends with Jaden. It's true - he was shy but that changed once you got to know him. He had an older sister named Jordan and was a bit of a loner but we didn't care. We became almost inseparable- at school we were the top trainers.

But we really bonded when Derek saved Flamie from her cruel trainer. It was then that i noticed something was changing in me when it came to him - i noticed the little things: how his eyes sparkled like bright leaf stones. How his face seemed to be shine bright even when it was raining. How much he put his family and pokemon first. How gorgeous and cute he was. I even admit i could see why the girls in the school were in love with him and i found myself quite jealous of them. There was a few times I even got into fights. Love makes you do stupid things and I was no exception.

There was no way i'd tell my twin about my new feelings. Ryan could sense what i was feeling and what was going on. He was known around school for being a bit of a blabbermouth and a flirt. I don't know if he suspected anything or if he chose to keep his mouth shut for my sake.

Carrying the secret of my growing crush became a burden on me. I had a rough time focusing on my tasks at the lab. I was starting to see Derek's warm eyes and caring face in my dreams. Ryan and my parents seemed to think that i was in a lovesick daze. They couldn't have been more right.

After Derek had told me about the ransom note i got a sick feeling in my stomach and trouble sleeping that night. I knew i had to tell someone about my feelings but i couldn't think of whom. Then it hit me: Jaden!

I asked him if i could talk to him under the shade of an Oran tree and told Remy to keep a lookout.

X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback X flashback X

"Jaden, there's something i need to get off my chest." i looked into his hazel eyes. "I really like someone. As in like, like them"

From what little i could see in the early morning light he looked shocked. " uh me? No offense Sami, but you're like a sister. It would be awkward dating you. It would be as weird as Jordan dating Ryan"

_My feather brained twit of a twin dating Jordan? EWWWW! _I shuddered at the thought. " I don't mean you. I mean someone. Else"

His mouth formed a perfect O shape. "You mean" he motioned to Derek's house. My nod confirmed it. "I knew it!"

_That was really _ _Dumb telling him. _"shush. you want to blurt it out?"

he lowered his voice. "you mean he doesn't know?"

I shook my head. "no. I've only realized it last night. See , I've been getting these strange but good feelings about him lately. Like how my stomach feels like there is a flock of butterfrees in it every time he looks at me . his face is in my dreams and how I just want to be near him. I needed to tell someone and ryan ... well he wouldn't understand. Then last night when i had this realization ... I had this gut wrenching feeling he's going to do something ... brave. brave but stupid."

" sounds like he's inheirited one of Mr. K's famous traits . Mom and dad said that they couldn't believe what he'd put himself through to save someone or do the right thing "

"look Jaden. you're my other best friend. I need you to promise me something. " i took a deep breath. "whatever derek has planned regarding that note.. you need to go with him. you have to keep him alive... for me "

there was a moment of silence as this sunk in. "you really care that much for him don't you? " I didn't answer . "i can see it in your eyes. " a smile appeared on his face " i swear to arceus I'll keep him alive .. not just for your sake but his parents"

"yeah" i returned the grin. "Ash and misty would have your head"

" and then my parents would have to dig me up so they could kill me "

Remy's ears twitched .(he's coming out the door! )

X flashback ends X flashback ends X flashback ends X

Throughout the last hour and a half I felt like I've been separated from my body. Like i was watching someone else's life, like someone else had gotten the vitamin-infused poke-food from the harrison girls , washed them and began giving them out. Like it was someone else who nearly got speared by her dad's Nidoking cause she wasn't thinking. I was too busy worrying about Derek and what he's facing. _What are he and Jaden up against? Did they find the kidnapper? Are they safe?_

Ryan even noticed I was off. " what's the matter sam? You look like you're in a daze of some sort. " he called over from a small hill where he and Jenni Harrison were testing the food out on a group of ponyta.

"just ... tired. didn't sleep well cause of ... bad dreams " I lied praying he'd believed the lie

" really? he raised his eyebrows as if saying he didn't believe me.

I gave him a look and he then gave up. "Apollo was looking for you. "

"great. What's he want from me? "

"ask him. He's flying around somewhere"

_whoopee- just what i need: that nosy natu poking his beak into my thoughts_. I sat down on an old tree stump nearby in vast laboratory grounds, a pail of food and a clipboard at my feet. I sighed as a pale Natu wearing a red identification ring around his foot hopped over to me. t. He had been bugging me about something but like i said i had been so worried about my best friends that i had put up a mental block. I bit my lip and twirled a lock of my hair. _They should have been back by now unless..._

(Hello! Earth to Sami! Wake up! WAKE UP!) A sharp peck on my head and a yelp in my ear brought me to reality. I yelped as if hit by a pin missile attack.

"ow! I'm awake! I'm awake " I looked down at the innocent looking bird who had flown to the ground the moment I jumped up. " for the love of ho-oh did you have to peck me THAT hard" I rubbed the spot where he pecked my head.

(How else was I supposed to get your attention? Get Gary's Blastoise to hydro pump you?)

"Yeeaahh. I don't fancy being soaked to the bone"

(I could get Umbreon to headbut you )

"no thanks. I'd be out for a week or at least a few hours if he did that"

( I had a vision ) he looked me in the eyes ( and .. you might want to see it Apollo' closed his eyes closed, then reopened- bright blue orbs.. I grabed his wings, which were shivering. The moment i did my surroundings disappeared

{I was in a battered large gray room. It was like a gym' s arena- a huge field in the middle of room. The field looked really awful. _What in the world happened _There were huge gaping craters in the floor, which was splattered with what unmistakably looked like blood. There was a huge pile of ruined gray debris and metal underneath what must have been a balcony.

My heart leapt when i noticed that there was some figures on one side of the room i recognized. I saw my godfather ; along with aki's mother storm and aki herself. all three were wounded greatly – Ash's shoulder looked horrible and he had innumerable cuts and bruises. Storm was also pale and covered in bruises – one paw was limply hanging by her side. Aki was pale, injured and being restrained by Ash. Jaden was gently but firmly holding Storm- his eyes were blazing with anger. There was also an injured unconcious growlithe I instantly recognized- Flamie.

I heard snatches of their conversation. (... Have to let me go. Ash. She's toast) aki begged. (I'll make her pay)

He shook his head and shuddered. " No. Trust me aki. I've faced her before, though I've never faced those things

"

(What do we do?) Storm whispered.

"I don't know" Jaden spoke his voice shaky . "She's got us trapped like raticate. She'll kill us if we were to escape. Even if we could escape we couldn't leave..."

It was then i saw someone in the middle of the room. This person was restrained by what i could only describe as a nightshade ribbon. pools of red at their side. i saw a growing purple spot on their arm as the figure screamed in pain. i thought my heart stopped when the figure's head lift up and i saw it was bloody and injured. _no, it can't be... no_

"please let us go" Derek whimpered to someone in the shadows. he seemed to be in great pain as he spoke . "please...give me the... antidote and... leave .. us .alone"

"now why would i do that boy? i'd rather watch you in your last minutes " a voice cackled as the speaker stepped out of the shadows. i saw an older woman, dressed in a dark black leather suit step out of the shadows. her icicle blue eyes had no trace of warmth in them. her silver and gray hair had burned patches and she cradled one arm- which smelled of burnt flesh- against her chest. deep in the shadows from where the woman had come from was something i couldn't see save for a sharp looking Ariados horn, where the dark pulsing night shade whip was coming from. "you have caused me too much trouble, brat. as for you " she gazed at my godfather, Jaden, and storm. "oh do i have plans for all of you... except for that worthless shrimp" aki bristled,

"go to.. hell J" Ash glared at her.

"temper, temper " the woman named J glowered. "maybe this ought show you some respect" , she pulled a gun out of her jacket and pointed at Derek. I had to shut my eyes but that did not shut out a huge BANG or the sound of weeping nor shouting.. then there was another loud BANG...}

I blinked and found myself on the grass, covered in sweat. My hands were trembling. I sat up and faced Apollo whose eyes had gone back to normal. I looked both ways to make sure no one was watching us. "Is that -will that..."

(Really happen? i don't know) apollo ended. (But i have this strange feeling it might)

I stood up. If what he said was true, there was no time to waste. " Have you seen Terra"?

(I think she was by the Oran berry grove) the Natu looked at me strangely (you want me to tell her to meet us outside the house?)

I shook my head. " I have to tell Mrs. K first. I'll leave a note for mom and dad . you're going to have to come with me to her house. I have this strange feeling that you're gonna have to unlock her memories"

(cause somehow she doesn't remember what happened?)

"y-yeah. Derek told me the other night that she didn't remember what happened. I wonder if she knew who took ash and storm.." I shuddered, my mind still on that horrible vision. _We have to save them pronto! I don't that fate to be fall them much less my crush_

Apollo looked me, knowing what I was thinking. (you're right)

I raced back inside the house praying to Arceus that i'd come out of this alive with the others. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. I sat down at the counter and muttered the words as I wrote the note . "dear ryan, mom and dad... something.. happened to Ash, storm and... derek. Had to... go rescue them ... in the forest . will be back safely . took apollo and terra with me. Sami"

I put down the pen and looked at the note. _They're going to skin me alive when they see this. i might kiss any dreams of going on my pokemon journey goodbye. If they only knew what I saw in that vision? I wonder if that woman ended up killing both ash and derek ? or derek and jaden? From what I saw she looked like the kind of person who wouldn't give a second thought about that. Ohh I hope that we're not too late to save derek! I don't know how much more he could hold on for if he was poisoned and-_

_(SAMI! ) _I flinched as Apollo mentally yelled in my head. (_stop day dreaming and start running! If we don't get to Ms. K then -)_

_"_I'm coming! I'm comin. " I opened the door, shut it and ran for derek's house like a zubat out of the underworld.

The end


	18. New adventure awaits!

A new adventure waits by wildcrocona

Plot: onto the final chapter! Once again I have no control over these characters asides from my OCs. I feel sad- I have to say goodbye to this story after a year and a half of living in the characters' minds. The prosthetic tail idea I got from the incredible tale of Clearwater Marine Aquarium's own Winter the Dolphin from the movie "Dolphin Tale". I took the ". choking... . not breathing..." part from the lion king 1 ½. . Italics are thoughts, " is humans talking and () has pokespeech in them

XxX

Narrator: It's been about three months since Derek, Ash, Jaden, Sami, aki and storm defeated J. In that time Derek and aki had to recover from their injuries. But now it's time for them to leave on there adventure

XxX

Mom and I were in the front hall going over my traveling supplies. "Do you have everything packed?" she asked yet again even though we had packed the night before.

"Yes, mom. "

"Are you sure you want to do this sweetie? I mean after what happened. I just don't know what I'd do if-if" she stopped and then gave me a big hug, nearly crushing me. "oh derek , derek

"Mom... you're crushing me... . choking... . not breathing..." I gasped. _What is it with her being so emotional lately_ She let go and looked over me. "I'm gonna be fine. I'm not going alone- Jaden and Sami and aki will be with me too"

My gaze slid a few feet away where Aki was getting the same lecture from her mom. Storm kept on licking her as she talked. (Sweetie. are you positive? There's nothing wrong with staying here- you can learn more attacks from your father. ...)

(Mom, I told you I want to go)

(I know baby it's just that- after what happened)

(I'm more than capable)

We heard footsteps running down the stairs . A second later Dj had wrapped her arms around my legs. "Don't go der!"

I looked down at my little sister. She was wearing a purple tee shirt with an outline of a pokeball and blue shorts. She was crying " wh-why d-do you have to go"

I knelt down to face her and detattched her from my leg. . "deej..I have to"

She shook her head. " why do you have to?"

_How am I supposed to tell her that this was wanted- what I had been looking forward to_ . "It's a kind of ... ritual"

She stopped sniffling ."huh?"

(it's ... something humans do when they reach a certain age.) storm explained. (kind of like real life – college... only they get to explore the world and learn about different things. there are also dangers they have to learn to face-)

"like the mean people mommy and daddy faced?"

mom looked from me to aki to storm. "um ..." she was clearly confused on how to handle this question.

(well yes. But also things like bullies and poachers and weather and lots more, right mom) Aki asked

(that's right sweetie . plus derek gets to see the world and maybe join in pokemon Contests-)

Dj's eyes lit up- she looooved Contests. "like May?" she referred to her godmother.

"well, maybe"

"I think you'd be good in them" mom remarked.

" . I don't know. I saw a few with Aunt daisy and it looked tougher than a regular battle " I admitted. " I wanna be able to get all the pokemon-"

"including a Togekiss? " she asked. Mom had told us about togetic and our family friend dawn owned a Togekiss that DJ was fascinated by.

"I don't know about that . they are very rare and shy pokemon/"

"are you gonna come back home?

" course I will. I'll be back some day"

"Too right, you will" dad said as he came down the stairs, pikachu on his shoulder, Aiden tottering after him' holding flamie's fur, Taran following him.

"You'll have to come back in seven in a half months"

"what's happening in seven and a-." my eyes darted from mom and dad's glowing faces to mom's belly... which was a little bigger than before the incident . i hadn't noticed it during my recovery . I put two and two together . _mom more emotional than ever. Her strange cravings for peanut butter, banana and oran berry jelly sandwiches ..big belly ... tiredness._ She was radiating a glow that I had only seen a few times before. The first time I was very young and didn't understand what was going on but the second time I had been a few years older. _ wait!_ my jaw dropped. "you're... you're pregnant?"

she nodded. Dad beamed, "here we go again"

DJ noticed the tiny bump too. "Mommy, are you gonna have 'nother baby?"

"Yes, sweetie."

"Where do babies come from"?

A knock at the door made us jump and spared us from further embarrassment. Two familiar voices came from the other side of the door. "Come on Ry! You're squashing me"

"What? Can't I say goodbye to my favorite little sister? "

"You moron! I'm your only sister. you're only older than me by about a minute "

"Still. The thought of you out there all alone. "

" Need ... to breathe "

I got to the door and opened it . i saw Sami in a tight embrace by her twin brother Ryan, who was dressed in a tan shirt and blue grease-stained overalls. His eyes twinkled behind huge oversized glasses as he saw me. Asides from their facial features, they didn't really look alike. While Sami looked more like their mom, Ryan looked like a strange combination of their dad and mom. He was taller than his sister and had floppy dark brown hair. Warm hazel eyes hid behind huge glasses. By his side lay a thin wrapped package.

"For Arceus' sake Ry let me go"

"You're no fun" he did let her go but she stuck her tongue at him.

"Hey Ry. Hi Sami" my stomach did a funny flip-flop when I saw his sister and i felt my cheeks blush . She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a white tee shirt that had outlines of a charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise against a red sun. Aki ran out and sniffed the package, her parents and Taran following her. (Is that it? did you finish it?)

Ryan bent down scratched her ears, smiling as he opened it. We all came out onto the front stoop and admired it. "Yup. Check it out"

It was a prosthetic lightning shaped tail with a soft rubber sock- we all commented at once

"pwetty"

(Impressive)

(It looks just like the real thing but will it work?)

"Oooh"

"You outdid yourself"

"How did you do that?"

I whistled. "By ho-oh's tail feathers"

He beamed. "It works just like a regular 'Chu tail and yes storm it does work for electrical attacks"

Sami added. "you should have seen willeykat bat it like it was a real pikachu's tale. That crazy meowth tried seeing if it would fight back. Don't worry, we had a group of shinx power it up "

Ryan gingerly put the tail on Aki. She waved it back and forth testing out the feeling. (You look like a real pikachu now) Taran told his sister

"It's amazing. You really out did yourself" dad commented.

Ryan blushed. Mom handed me my backpack, trying not to shed tears. "Be sure to call us right when you get to Valencia Island. I don't want to be fretting about something happening to you or- or "

Dad put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy Misty. Don't stress- it'll hurt the baby. They'll be fine"

(It's not like when we went there) Pikachu reminded her. Sami, Jaden and I were starting out in the Orange Island league first – partly because the Indigo Plateau Conference was in a little less than two months, but mainly cause none of us wanted to pass near THAT area in the Overgrown Forest for a while.

"I know but it's my job to worry"

I bent down to face Dj and Aiden – whom dad had put down. I gave them each a huge hug. " Don't be giving mom and dad any trouble. It's not good for the baby. Dj, you have to help mom watch after Aiden and be a big girl. Can you do that sis?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Uh-huh! Can you write me and Aiden letters?"

"Every week. And I'll call too"

"Don't want you to go" Aiden was close to tears.

"Don't worry little squirtle"- he smiled at his nickname "I'll come by to visit. But you need to help mom out "

"Kay"

Storm started licking me when I came to her. (You-you take care of yourself. derek. You're gonna do great out there ). She said through moist eyes. (after what happened well – you just make sure nothing like that happens to my little girl again)

I give her mate a wink as I hugged her and replied "I promise. Ursa scout's honor" . I looked at Taran, who was talking to his sister. "you take good care of your parents and mine while I'm gone, Tar. "

He held up a paw and squeaked ( I promise)

It was pikachu and flamie's turns. The electric mouse and fire dog were bursting with pride. "Flamie. " _there's so much to tell her. How proud I am with what she's accomplished. How much she's grown. How sad I will be to leave her. How brave she is _She looked at me and puffed out her chest, showing off her fireproof shinny collar with her license and nametag, put her paw on my shoulder for a few seconds and licked me. _She knows what I'm thinking_ (thanks. for everything. For giving a poor Growlithe a second chance)

(I stand by what I said a few months ago: you are so much like your dad) the mouse grinned.

I was close to tears myself now as I hugged him. "I love you too buddy"

(You and aki are going be one heck of a duo. Maybe even better than your dad and me)

Dad chuckled I stood up and faced him. Mom was turning on the water works badly. "Son. There's not much for me or your mother to say that hasn't been already said. It's hard for both of us. We knew this day would 's hard for me- heck it would have been even harder if that whole mess with J never happened. Knowing what happened it's hard for me to admit when the pidgey has to leave the nest. " He choked back a tear or two. "But you more than deserve this. Just make sure you -"

"Call you a lot, make sure I don't fall for any traps " I rattled off "and most importantly –"

"Don't do anything truly reckless" Ryan, Sami, and I finished together.

Mom smiled. "That's my boy. Make sure you change your-"

A beep from the Pokegear around my wrist sounded. _Saved by the beep_. I pushed a button and read it aloud: "get your butts ovr here and rescue my bro. m & d and Caitlin choking him with embarrassment- jordn. "

I looked up. "oh dear"

Sami grimaced "it must bad if Jordan is begging us to save him"

Ryan had a dreamy goo-goo-eyed look in his face. 'Caitlin's there? She is so gorgeous and talented! And beautiful! She makes the best smoothies. Her eyes are like two pools of - OW! That's my ear"

" really ryan? You are hopeless" Sami had grabbed her twin's ear and yanked it.

"ow ! come on sami! That's my ear". _Yeouch that's gonna hurt_

"Be glad its not your head. Mom and dad you could see me off not go moony eyed over Caitlyn ."

" but-"

" You are going back to the lab if I have to drag you there myself "

"But- but- Sam-".

" no buts!" She was relentless and didn't let go of his ear. We heard him howling with pain as they left our driveway.

" I see Toxicroak's been giving Sami lessons" dad commented.

I faced my family one last time. "I guess this is goodbye. Gotta go rescue Jaden"

"Tell them we say hi and give them the good news" dad said. "we .. still have to go tell my mom"

_yipes._ Mom turned to him " for the love- how could you? ASHTON IHSOTAS KETCHUM you haven't told your mother yet? Why You-"

( you might want to slip out now) taran looked at us ( this will go on for hours)

I looked at him then at my squabbling pregnant mother. "yeeaahh"

(can I go with you to get a peacha oran berry poke-smoothie?)

Aki shrugged her shoulders ( sure why not).

We left the driveway and headed down the sidewalk . " how long do you think it will be until mom calms down"

Taran chuckled . (Knowing her..,that might be awhile . ).

( you know j and j are gonna be giving jaden the same lecture ) Aki pointed out.

"Not like they don't have the same worries". I puffed out my chest importantly . _Watch out orange crew here I come!_

THE END


End file.
